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2002-12-13 Friday News The Friday News December 13, 2002 Dakota County Community Development Agency Open House The Dakota County Community Development Agency Board of Commissioners and staff cordially invite you to the open house and dedication of the CDA’s new office building located at 1228 Town Center Drive in Eagan on th Tuesday, December 17from 3:30 – 6:00 pm. The program will begin at 5pm with introductions and opening remarks from Mark Ulfers, CDA Executive Director. The guest speakers include Michael E. Turner, Dakota County Board of Commissioners and CDA Board Liaison, Robert J. Alpers, Chair of the Dakota County CDA Board of Commissioners, and Gloria Tew, sculpture artist. AMM Legislative Policies We recently received a copy of the AMM Legislative policies for 2003. The policies were developed by AMM’s th four policy committees, reviewed by the Board of Directors, and given final approval at the November 7 policy adoption meeting. Administrative Assistant Patrick Hollister and Airport Relations Commissioner Ellsworth Stein served on the Transportation and General Government Policy Committee. Special thanks to Patrick and Ellsworth for their participation in this process. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the policies, please call me or reference the AMM website at www.amm145.org. CDA Senior Housing Underway As you drive by the Town Center site you will notice activity on the property. The CDA started construction on their 60 unit affordable senior building this week! They anticipate occupation of the building in October 2003. Please see the attached article “CDA adding new senior and family developments throughout Dakota County in 2003.” Chief Jeff Piotraschke Resignation On Tuesday night, the City Council will recognize the resignation of Police Chief Jeff Piotraschke. After 17 years of service to the Mendota Heights Police Department, Jeff is resigning from police service. His last day with the th City will be January 15.We wish him well in his future endeavors. He has been a tremendous asset to the City and will be greatly missed. Wentworth Warming House rd At the City Council meeting on December 3, the City Council voted to construct an addition on to the existing Wentworth warming house. In September of 2002, the Council directed staff to attempt to lower the cost of replacing the Wentworth warming house from $35,000 to $20,000. Guy Kullander contacted several contractors, but was unsuccessful in receiving a much lower bid. In October, the Park Commission voted to recommend to the City Council that the warming house should be replaced at the cost of approximately $34,000 to be taken from the Special Park Fund. The City Council considered the recommendation, but opted for the less expensive alternative of adding on to the current building. The current structure is 14 ft by 18ft and was built in the early 1970’s. An addition of 14 ft by 14 ft. attached to the east end of the current building would enlarge the total area of the building to 448 sf. which is the same area of the warming houses in Marie and Friendly Hills Parks. Congratulations to Officer Hurst on Completion of Probationary Period Officer Jennifer Hurst was appointed to the department in December of 2001. Upon appointment, Jennifer began the formal field training process and adapted extremely well to the pace of the intensive training. It was immediately apparent that Jennifer had an innate ability to do the job of a patrol officer and seemed to approach each and every situation with a high degree of thoughtfulness and common sense. Chief Piotraschke reports that Jennifer has not only become a very competent officer, but continues to work hard to develop her skills as she gains more experience in the field. Jennifer eagerly accepts new assignments and challenges and has become very involved in some of the juvenile education programs that the department is involved in. Her positive attitude and spirit has become an asset to the department and the community. On Tuesday night, Police Chief Piotraschke will be recommending the appointment of Jennifer Hurst to regular, full time status as a police officer for the City of Mendota Heights. Congratulations Jennifer! Park Bench Donation Program Update The Parks and Recreation Commission, at the request of Council member Schneeman developed a draft policy whereby residents wishing to memorialize a friend or relative, were offered the opportunity to donate a park bench to the Mendota Heights Parks and Trail System. In December 2001, the City Council adopted a Park Bench Donation Policy wherein, for a donation of $750.00, a resident could request the installation of a park bench, with personalized memorial plaque, to be placed along a walking trail or within a city park. During the past year, four benches have been donated under this program: The Schneeman family donated a bench honoring Dan and Mary Jeanne Schneeman which is placed alongside the trail way on Wachtler Avenue; Raline Paper in memory of Bill Paper which is located in Ivy Park near the southeast corner of the play area; Ken and Lynne Malloy honoring William and Renee Malloy which is located alongside the trail way at the intersection of Marie and Lexington; and Karen Beaudette in memory of James Beaudette which is located overlooking Roger’s Lake, east of the fishing pier. This has been a successful program and we hope to continue to receive participation by the residents. Commission Appointments Expiring There are a number of Commission appointments that expire on January 31, 2003. If you are interested in being re- appointed to your Commission, please send a letter or email to my attention requesting the re-appointment by January 10th, 2003. The following individuals have terms expiring in January: Planning Commission: Marina McManus, Bernie Friel and Bruce McManus; Parks and Recreation Commission: Stan Linnell, Raymond Morris and Larry Craighead; and Airport Relations Commission: Scott Beaty, Joe Leuman and Elizabeth Petschel. Garron/Acacia site proposal Ron Clark and John Uban appeared before the City Council on Tuesday to discuss their application for a rezoning, subdivision, street vacation, conditional use permit for a planned unit development and a variance for an owner occupied multi family residential development at the north end of Pilot Knob Road. At the November Planning Commission meeting, the Commission voted 6-0 to deny the application. On Monday, the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community filed a petition for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) with the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board. Once an EAW petition is filed, a project cannot be started, nor can a final government decision be made on the project until: a petition for an EAW is dismissed, a decision is made that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not necessary or that an EIS is determined adequate. Once the Environmental Assessment Worksheet has been completed, the City will determine whether or not and Environmental Impact Statement is needed. On December 3rd, the City Council voted 3:2 to give the project an informal conditional approval with a number of conditions attached. Since the last meeting, the developer has been rd working on a new proposal taking into consideration the conditions laid out by the City Council on December 3. This item will once again be in front of the City Council on Tuesday night for a formal conditional approval subject to the completion of the EAW. Final Thought “The person who wants to do something will find a way. The person who doesn't will find an excuse”- Alan Zimmerman Respectfully Submitted Cari Lindberg Administrator Attachments: Pipeline, City Council agenda, pre-application meeting synopsis, Sun Current article “Mendota Heights seeks Commissioners,” Highland Villager article “MH town homes face uphill battle,” Star Tribune article “Metscape: Looking for controversy? Take Highway 55,” and Dakota County Community Development Agency Newsletter article “CDA Adding New Senior and Family Developments Throughout Dakota County in 2003,”