Mar. 23, 2026 Shorewood Council Meeting 3 Minute Recap

NOTE: Relevant links are at the end of this article.

Agenda Item 2: Claims List

    Expenditures of note:

Total payroll                 $145,868
Front office furniture   $3,251
Bolton & Menk            $24,884 (engineering services)
Campbell Knutson       $34,916 (legal services)

    Total payments $509,137.

Item 3: Matters From the Floor (MFTF)

Barry Brown, Burlwood Court, presented options for savings that would have an impact this year and next. After 4 years of 21.3% inflation and 29.4% city tax & services increases, he encouraged the council to think in terms of saving taxpayers millions. He went on to suggest methods for implementing tighter financial controls. He said he had multiple meetings with the city’s finance director and several years of reviewing the city’s budgets. This has helped form his recommendations that could save taxpayers $1.0M the first year; and $4.0M over 5 years.

The council listened attentively. Later in the meeting, Council member Gorham asked the city staff to verify Mr. Brown’s calculations for further council consideration. The 2027 budget planning begins in approximately three months. The link to Brown’s full statement is below.

Item 4A: Professional Services Agreement for Shorewood Community & Event Center Analysis.

Per council request at the Mar. 9 meeting, the agreement was modified to give more context to market analysis, a structured task force, and added a marketing strategy that defines the target market for each room at the center. The consultant will also identify new user groups that could help close the revenue/expense gap. Along with that will be a strategy for marketing to those groups. The council tried to clarify their original instruction to the staff and shared concern over what will get the building to be 70% sustainable and what directional decisions will need to be made at that time. DiGruttolo asked for 3-4 resident meetings, rather than 2. The mayor was cautious about extending the time frame to a conclusion and then shared her fears that the resident “task force” will come up with visions that cannot be fulfilled by the city, causing angry residents. The council approved the services agreement.

Item 4B: Eddy Station Concession Agreement –Tonka United Soccer

Sanschagrin asked for background on the $900 seasonal usage fee charged to TUSA for “exclusive” use of Eddy station during the summer months. The explanation was that it started at $500 in 2023 and has progressed annually to $900. City incurred expenses as a result of TUSA use is minimal.

In other news:

• Gravity Investments LLC has filed a lawsuit against the city for its vote to approve an EAW petition for the Watten Ponds 2nd Addition development. The League of Minnesota Cities has assigned an attorney to defend the city’s position in the lawsuit.
• The city has sent letters to 50 households that have not had lead and copper service line testing. To reach the goal, 19 more tests must be done. Public Works is going door-to-door on the list to achieve the 19.
• T-Mobile-MetroNet has filed for a permit to bring fiber into the Christmas Lake area. Installation will begin in the next few weeks.
• SLMPD has placed a plastic bag over the Flock camera at Hwy19 and Smithtown. Apparently, though Flock said the camera had been turned off, it continued to send alerts. SLMPD chose to err on the side of caution and physically covered the camera.
• Responding to Barry Brown’s MFTF presentation, council member Gorham asked for a full accounting of the engineering service expenditures he laid out for discussion at a future meeting.

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Please comment below.

Next meeting: Apr. 13, 2026. We’ll be watching.

Related Links:
Barry Brown Presentation
City Council Meeting Mar. 23, 2026 (watch any time)
Public Background-Packet for this meeting-read it