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2004-05-07 Friday News96t s MY 'pr's The Friday News l May 7, 2004 Town Center Update I talked with Ross Fefercorn this week and he told me that he is working to have the final designs done for his commercial buildings in time to bring them to the City Council for their review and approval at their June I" meeting. If Council grants approval at that time it will take Ross another 60 days to complete the final "working" drawings and bid out the work to construct Building F. BuildingF will be the second of his office buildings (after Gateway Bank) and it is located oil the northeast side of the Village Green. Building F will have underground structural parking with retail shops on ground level and offices on the second level. Ross also told me that he is going to make one of the new town homes that he now has under construction on Oak Street, his model home and enter it in the Fall Parade of Homes. The Fall Parade is to be held the first three weeks of September. Celebrate Mendota Heights Mark your calendars for Saturday June 5, 2004 to Celebrate Mendota Heights Parks! The celebration will be held from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at Mendakota Park. Planning for the event is currently underway. Celebrate Mendota Heights Parks is made possible by the generous support of residents, community groups, and community businesses. If you are interested in making a donation or volunteering to help with this year's event please contact Teresa at City Hall. Fishing Derby This year's fishing derby will be held Wednesday, July 14. Registration starts at 5:30 pm, fishing will occur from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, entertainment and prizes will happen after that. Mr. Clifford Timm donated 50 tackle boxes. Scott Seaton, who is our fishing pro, is lined up again to help and his sponsors will provide sone prizes and free tackle for the boxes. For The Gardeners I'►n a gardener, so I was extremely interested when Linda showed me that the Mendota Heights Garden Club is having their annual plant sale this Saturday. It will be held from 8an — I pill at 1295 Dodd Road. They always have a wide variety of good plants— get there early for the best selection — maybe I will see you there. Mother's Day This Sunday is Mother's Day. Hopefully the weather cooperates — I have plans for a barbegue. I wish all you Mothers a Happy Mother's Day and hope that you have plans to celebrate with your families too. Respectfully Submitted, James Danielson City Administrator Attachnnents: Pipeline, ARC Agenda, Park and Recreation Agenda, Planning Application Synopsis, Pioneer Press Article "Pilot Knob's past is celebrated", Sun Article "Smashing, ramming, shredding the competition (Robots)", Friday Fax, AMM News. NEWS The Pe LETTER Public Works Engineering May 6, 2004 Code Enforcement Public Works The Parks Crew completed general maintenance in the parks this week including daily trash pick up, grass cutting, dragging and chalking fields, striping ball fields and they set up the large soccer fields at Kensington Park South. They stared up the sprinkler system at City Hall and made repairs on bad sprinkler heads at Kensington Park, Menclakota Park, City Hall and the Fire Hall. They started spraying the parks for weeds. Rich checked the sanitary sewer lift stations daily. He sprayed weeds at City Hall, North and South Kensington Park, Victoria Highlands Park, Mendakota Park and at the Fire Hall. The Street Crew repaired sod that was damaged during snow plowing this winter. They picked up a rusty play set that was found at the dump site and broke it up and hauled it away. They reinstalled stop and street name signs at Lemay Lake Road and Mendota Heights Road. They worked on the street lights at Centre Pointe and found that Qwest did a directional bore for fiber optic cable to be brought into a business, hit our conduit for street lights and cut the wires. They trimmed back more trees on the "S" curve on Wagon Wheel Trail. Engineering The Engineering Department continues to work on the Somerset Neighborhood reconstruction project plans. They have also started to finalize the Lexington Avenue Trail plans and hope to construct the trail later this year. Sue attended a meeting at Dakota County to discuss their Environment and Natural Resource Management Policy Plan Update as it relates to water resources. Several other Dakota County cities were in attendance. There was discussion about working together to implement some of the NPDES, Phase II permit requirements in order to prevent duplication of efforts. CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION AGENDA May 12, 2004 — Large Conference Room 1. Call to Order - 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of April 14, 2004 Airport Relations Commission Minutes. 4. Unfinished and New Business: a. NOC Position Description b. NOC Issue Identification C. MAC P&E Part 150 Discussion d. Introduction Packet e. City Administrator Update 5. Acknowledge Receipt of Various Reports/Correspondence: a. March 2004 ANOM Technical Advisor's Report b. March 2004 ANOM Eagan/Mendota Heights Departure Corridor Analysis C. April 2004 MSF Noise News d. N.O.I.S.E. e. Airport Noise Report, April 9, 2004. f. Airport Noise Report, April 23, 2004. g. Airport Noise Report, April 30, 2004. 6. Other Commissioner Comments or Concerns 7. Public Comments 8. Adiourn Auxiliary aids for persons with disabilities are available upon request at least 120 hours in advance. If a notice of less than 120 hours is received, the City of Mendota Heights will make every attempt to provide the aids. This may not, however, be possible on short notice. Please contact City Administration at (651) 452-1850 with requests. CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA AGENDA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION Tuesday, May 11, 2004 6:30 p.m. -- Council Chambers 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. April 13, 2004 City Council and Parks and Recreation Commission Workshop Minutes 4. April 13, 2004 Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes 5. Recreation Prograrmner's Update 6. Discussion with Amelia Olson of MHAA 7. Proposed Work. Tasks from Joint Workshop 8. Lexington Avenue Bike Trail 9. Verbal Updates • Police Report 10. Other Comments 11. Adjourn Auxiliary aids for persons with disabilities are available upon request at least 120 hours in advance. If a notice of less than 120 hours is received, the City of Mendota Heights will make every attempt to provide the aids. This may not, however, be possible on short notice. Please contact City Administration at (651) 452-1850 with requests. CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS 0 =1 May 6, 2004 TO: City Council, Commission Members, and City Administrator FROM: Patrick C. Hollister, Administrative Assistant SUBJECT: Planning Application Synopsis The Planning Commission will discuss the following items at their May 25, 2004 Planning Commission meeting: Plam- ing Case #04-11 Ron Ettinger, Children's Country Day School 1588 South Victoria Road Conditional Use Permit and Variance for an Accessory Structure Planning Case 404-12 Dennis Forsberg 1111 Dodd Road Conditional Use Permit and Variance for a Detached Garage Plamling Case #04-13 Robert Alvarez 1167 Dodd Road Preliminary Plat and Variance to Create One Additional Lot Planning Case #04-14 Jeff Hamson 1345 Mendota Heights Road Variance for a Free -Standing Monument Sign Planning Case #04-15 Kim Beauclair 1920 Glenhill Road Critical Area Permit and Variance for Porch Replacement and Garage Addition Planning Case #03-04 Continued Discussion of Property Maintenance Ordinance Pioneer Press 105/02/2004 | Pilot Knob's past ia celebrated Pagel of3 TwinCultiesecomSearch: ist 7 days R1 for PIONEERPRESS -|eyi��-1s | �mb�� � | rs | Hmmea Register or Log In. Back L»Home > News> Member Benefits Local News Local Wisconsin Nation/World Latest Headlines Columnists Iraq Lottery Photos Politics Traffic Weather xvei,u mawy Opinion Minnesota Business Sports Entertainment Living Classifieds Archives Contact Us Contests Promotions Shopping Travel ^Archives Classified Ads `Contests Local Events ' mapam Directions Newspaper Ads ~Obituaries 'Opinion ^Subscriptions Traffic Reports ^Weather Yellow Pages ��mp�ug ^ Automotive Classified Ads ~Employment 'Personals ^ eca| Estate ^Shopping Yellow Pages Filemail this A p,int this 0 license this Posted onSun, May. nz,aon4 Pilot Knob's past is celebrated "If you previously visited Pilot Knob, yoagain and frequently, for the entrancing, worthwhile view. " — Golfer and Sportsman Magazine, 1942 The same thing could be written today. Pilot Knob, scene ofastalemate between preservationists and developers, isnnordinary Milliammm SMALL Now the significance of the 100-p|us acre hilltop in Mendota Heights is documented in photographs, maps and text. They form an exhibit that will be on display until Labor Dakota County Historical Society in South St. Paul. "The exhibit seemed like a good way to get the area known," said historian Bruce VVhi member of the Pilot Knob Preservation Association, a group of volunteers that sponso "We're trying to continue to make the case that Pilot Knob is too important of an area on and should be protected," White said. A landowner and developer, meanwhile, have sued the city ofMendota Heights. They in an attempt to build 157 town houses on a mostly vacant 25 -acre portion of the hill. The Mendota Heights City Council has taken the position that nodecision on the prop development can be made until an extensive study, known as an environmental impa In a pending lawsuit, landowner John Allen and MinnStar Builders, an Edina company developer Ronald Clark, allege the city missed a legal deadline for making a decision. contend the 25 -acre section has no historic importance and that no evidence exists of remains there, as some contend. A hearing was held on April 22 before District Judge Pioneer Press 105/02/2004 1 Pilot Knob's past is celebrated Page 2 of 3 ononeex�nas 'Contests Jr, who is expected to rule by July. ' s -Discussions ' E -Newsletters "I'mjust a frustrated landowner," Allen said. "I don't have any doubt we have an ext - Local Events case for a 60 -day rule violation. For 12 years, this (housing) is exactly what they (city ^Special mams Reports methey vvanted." 'xvemogs p'i'`� �umiun The legal wrangling has given preservationists time tostep upefforts toeducate the ^ maxv Print Edition Pilot Knob, from where Pilot Knob Road -- which extends south into Eagan -- gets its ' Pioneer Press pmps gravel road. ^Subscriptions cm��ac�ux Contact Lists About three-fourths of Pilot Knob is taken up by Acacia Park Cemetery, which, of cour Corrections ' that part of the hill from development. Despite the noisy airplanes overhead from naa - FAQs . Place Ad Minneapolis -St. Paul International Airport, the cemetery helps create the feel of net Wild turkeys, birds and other wildlife roam. The views are spectacular of the valley where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers me downtown Minneapolis skyline on the horizon. Pilot Knob also has historical and spirit preservationists argue. It was the scene of the 1851 Treaty of Mendota, one of two treaties that transferred acres from Dakota Indians to white settlers. Indians also were buried on the hill, whic prospective site for the territorial Capitol. The exhibit captures aspects of this history. It includes photographs from the private collection nfMarcus and Amanda Baars. The 80s, still live in Mendota Heights. Marcus' father, Levinus Baers, was the first supehnt Acacia Park Cemetery. The cemetery opened in 1g26 -- the same year aothe Mendot another distinguishing feature of the landscape. The exhibit includes e plat of 1891, showing that lot ofPilot Knob was then owned b and Ellen Perron. Parts of the Minnesota Historical Society's collection are on display, including photogr kept at a camp on Fort Snelling across the river after the Dakota Conflict of 1862. Ma in the camp that winter ofillness, White said, and were buried on Pilot Knob. The exhibit also includes a photo from the 1931 funeral in Acacia of Charles "Speed" pilot after whom the downtown St. Paul airport is named. The exhibit conveys recent information and photos including some of Bob Brown, wh and was buried in Acacia. The former chairman of the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota spearheaded opposition tothe development before he died last summer. Until the legal tangles are resolved, White said, attempts to purchase the 25 -acre par ,The final issue will be a question of money," he said. "Where's the money going to c like to help with that." The development fight prompted hundreds of people to tell elected officials in Mendot Pioneer Press 105/02/2004 1 Pilot Knob's past is celebrated Page 3 of 3) Brian Bonner can be reached at bbonner@pioneerpress. corn or 651-228-2173. The Dakota County Historical Society is at 13UThird Ave. N, South St. Paul. lliaopen Wednesdays and Fridays, from Q a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays, from g a.m.to Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Web site is www.dakotahistory.org and the phone number is 651-552-7548. "If you previously visited Pilot Knob, go again and frequently, for the entrancing, worthwhile vie Sportsman Magazine, 1942 al email this g print this C license this 7:���'av,r�x i niJder |Copyr/gh� Smashing, ramming, shredding the competition District 197s new Robotics Team takes'Evil Plow' battle bot to national tournament BY JOSHUA NICHOL$ Sun Newspapers Imagine spending months working on something to get it just right. Now, imagine leaving it alone for three minutes with something that could tear, smash or cut it into unrecognizable pieces. That's what was facing the Henry Sib- ley High School Robotics Team last week. The "battle bot" that they spent most of the school year fundraising for, Planning and building got its first test April 22.24 at the state's first National BattleBots IQ Competition. 'With this they see math and science put to a practical use," said Dick Heard, a technical education teacher at Sibley and Friendly Hills Middle School, who is the adviser for the team. "You can have all the theory in the world, but unless you can see it in action, it doesn't mean anything." The team is a first for the district and consists of 19 members drawn from ninth - graders at Henry Sibley and seventh- and eighth -graders at Friendly Hills. The team started off the year in Sep- tember with fundraising efforts for their robot. The effort included finding corpo- rate sponsors, the biggest of which --ended up being -Ecolab who provided the frame for what would eventually become the "Evil Plow" The "Evil Plow" is a rectangular robot with metal ridges along three of its sides and a sharp metal plow -like piece at the front. The robot is covered with decals for Ecolab, black and yellow safety stripes, its name and other stickers stat- ing the device is created for combat. The Ebur wheels for the robot stick out both the top and bottom of its casing so that it can keep running if it is flipped onto its top. . Like other robots in the competitions, the "Evil Plow" is remote controlled, as evidenced in the Sibley gym when stu- dents took it for a test drive, sending it zipping around the hardwood floors and taking out an empty garbage can used for target practice. - Robot battle competitions started about a decade ago, but high school com- petitions began about five years ago in Massachusetts. The competition first came to Minnesota two years ago' al- though this is the first such high school competition to take place in the state, Heard said ' "This is a fun way to get kids interest- ed in engineering principles," he said. "This is actually applied physics the use in building the robots. This is a way to get them interested. in math, science and engineering while doing somethug different and fun." As the team finished preparations;in the days leading up to the tournamenfin Owatonna, the students bustled around the shop room a Sibley, talking about needing the.V16 wrench or adjusting the set screws for the robot's wheels. Most students came into the' experi- ,. ence with little knowledge of engineer- s ing.or toolsztut, that soon changed. "We went and got this huge aluminum tube and cut it into four pieces for the plow and'that was a lot of fun," said Brian Glass, an Eagan resident and ninth -grader at Sibley. "We didn't have any big tools We could use so we did it all by hand and it turned out pretty good."t.,r;,, ROBOTS: TO Page 12A www.mnSun.c Henry Sibley Robotics Team adviser Dick Heard watches as team members (left to rigf Arthur Sterling, Tom Madison and Dane Neska work on the team's robot. seconds, it is considered a knockout, Robots the knockout is the result of a blow froi the other competitor, it is considered technical knock out. From Page 3A If both robots are still going at the en For Colleen Borchard, a Mendota Heights resident and seventh -grader at Friendly Hills, the best part was working with the tools. "I really like building things and using tools and getting in there," Colleen said, It sounded really interesting. It's been a really, really good experience and I've had a lot of fun." Brian said his favorite aspect of the ef- fort was working with metals, something he had an interest in before signing onto the team this past fall, "I like working with the metal per- sonally so going to junkyards and look. ing for metal was pretty fun stuff," Brian said. "Then we had to bolt it together and do some welding, so it was great learning more about that." And another thing the students learned through the process was the im- portance of teamwork. "In the beginning our team was bare- ly together," said Robbie Hauck, the robot's driver and also a seventh -grader at Friendly Hills. "Once we started work- ing as a team we got about twice as much accomplished as before." Having debris and pieces of robots fly- ing around the arena can be a hazard, so the arena where the robots compete con- sists of a steel floor surrounded by bul- letproof plastic. Two teams place their robots inside the arena and then control them by re- mote from outside the arena's walls. The robots must not only deal with each other, but also try to stay away from cir- cular saws, sledgehammers and other obstacles in the arena designed to dam. ;age both competitors. If a robot is disabled for more than 30 �- �•• —LG., llltll lilt compecltlo goes to a panel of judges, who decide th winner based on factors such as aggre: siveness, damage caused and strategy. More than 100 high schools from ai over the nation sent teams to the compe tition, with some sending more than on team, A total of 17 Minnesota school were to compete at the tournament, The competition was double-elimina tion with the championship takingplaa April 24, followed by a college -level tour nament April 25, The winner of the competition tool home a trophy shaped like abig Iug nut award money and other prizes. There also was a $500 prize for the most de stroyed robot during the competition. In the days leading up to the competi tion, the team members said they were eager to see if the "Evil Plow" had what it takes to be a champion. However, they were also cautioning their eagerness. "It's our first ,year, so I don't know how we're going to do," Colleen said. "We might be able to make it to Friday, but I don't know about Saturday. But we'll see how we do." Brian said he was looking forward to seeing what all other teams had come up with and the general excitement around the tournament. But were any of them worried about the eventual fate of their robot? A little, but not too much. Other members of the team include Richard Avendano, Amy Balto, Daniel Balto, Brandon Campisi, Bobby Ci- borowski, Eric Fischer, Tyler Levercom, Kevin Lewis, Thomas Madison, Doug Mizener, Dane Neska, Alex Noonan, Sam Paton, Doug Pistner, Arthur Sterling and Zach Ward_ Apr 30 2004 16:56:03 Via Fax _> 6514528940 Administrator Page 001 Of 004 I LJ LMC COOS -FridayFax- A weekly legislative update front the League of Minnesota Cities Full Senate approves Tax bill On Thursday, the full Senate amended and then passed their version of the 2004 omnibus Lax bill. As adopted, the bill includes a restoration of $60 million of the $150 million cut in LGA, and general authority for cities of the first, second and third class to impose a local sales tax for certain types of capital projects. And like the House bill, the Senate offering contains no levy limits. The Senate tax proposal was processed as a "delete -all" amendment to H.F. 2540, which was the House Lax bill that was transmitted to the Senate earlier in the week. That bill will now be sent back to the House where we expect the House to refuse to concur which will set up a possible conference committee during the remaining two weeks of the session. We use the term "possible" because there are whispers that this may be the year where no Lax bill is passed. Below is a brief description of the changes adopted by the Senate during the Thursday floor session. For a more complete description of the bill as it emerged from the Tax C0111111iLLee, See this week's Cities .Bulletin. Local Government Aid The bill approved by the Senate appropriates $60 million to the LGA formula for distribution in 2005 and increases the appropriation by an additional $6 million for the 2006 distribution. April 30, 2004 Page 1 The bill continues to include a repeat of the phase-in of the taconite aid offset to the LGA formula. In 2003, the legislature modified the LGA formula to include taconite aid payments in the measure of a city's ability to raise local revenue. In other words, the 2003 change, if left in place, would reduce LGA distributions to cities receiving taconite aid distributions. The bill modifies the 2001 law that provided additional LGA to cities over 10,000 population outside the metropolitan area. Under that 2001 law, a city with a population over 10,000 according to the 2000 Federal Census would receive an additional $60 per capita for any population over 5,000, up to a maximum of $2.5 million. The Senate bill eliminates the reference to the 2000 Census, which would otherwise allow any city with an annual population estimate over 10,000 to receive an $60 per capita for each additional person up to a $2.5 million maximum. However, the Senate change is limited by another provision in current law to LGA distributions in 2002 only which would seem to make the change meaningless for future distributions. Senator Mike McGinn (R -Eagan) offered an amendment that would have repealed many of the proposed changes to LGA contained in the Senate Tax Committee draft including the repeal of the taconite aid offset and the appropriation increase. His amendment was defeated. Senator Larry Pogemiller, the Senate Tax Chair Estimates of the impact of the Senate LGA added an amendment on the floor that will changes will be available on the League's web inflate the LGA appropriation by $6 million site at ww%vJjnnc.or_7. until the formula is fully funded, as measured by funding 100 percent of the need/capacity Local Sales Tax authorization gap measured by the formula. The bill reported out of the Senate Tax Committee included roughly a dozen For more information on city legislative issues, contact any member of the League of Minnesota Cities Intergovernmental Relations team. 651.281.1200 or 800.925.1122 Apr 30 2004 16:56:45 Via Fax _> 6514520940 Administrator Page OOZ Of 004 LMC Lwylw ,fXh-4wYt,? Cities -FridayFax- A weekly legislative update from the League of Minnesota Cities authorizations for specific cities to impose local sales taxes or to modify their existing local sales taxes. Senator Sheila Kiscaden (I - Rochester) offered an amendment that would allow Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth (first class cities) to impose a sales Lax by ordinance and would create a general process for cities of the first, second and third class cities or effectively all cities over 10,000 population to impose up to a 1/2 cent local sales tax for certain types of capital projects. Although a similar Stand-alone Kiscaden bill offered during the session would have restricted the authority to cities outside the seven -county metro area, the amendment offered on the floor contained no such restriction. Senators Pogemiller (DFL -Minneapolis), Betzold (DFL -Fridley), Kleis (R -St. Cloud) and Senjem (R -Rochester) all spoke in favor of the Kiscaden amendment. Senator Kleis' only concern was related to the referendum requirement, which would have allowed a city to conduct the required referendum at either a general or a special election. He successfully moved to restrict the referendum requirement to only general elections. After a remarkably short discussion, the modified Kiscaden amendment passed on a voice vote. The Kiscaden local sales tax provisions restrict the uses of the tax proceeds to capital projects with regional benefits including regional convention or civic centers, regional airports, public libraries, a city's matching fund requirement for major capital infrastructure improvements to arterial road, bridges or railroads, public safety equipment or facilities for dispatching communications, computers or training or flood control or protection. The sales tax would only remain in effect for April 30, 2004 Page 2 Any city under 10,000 population, or cities over 10,000 population that would seek to impose a local sales tax for any other use would have to continue to seek special legislative authorization. Fee Stud), As the bill emerged from the Tax Committee, it contained a requirement for a study of state agency and school district fee increases that would be conducted by the Department of Revenue. The study language was purportedly added in response to ongoing Senate Tax Committee member discussions about recent increases in governmental fees. Most, of the committee discussions specifically focused on the effect of the 2003 budget cuts on fees. In his initial author's amendment, Senator Pogemiller added a similar study of city fees to the bill. Under the amendment, the Department of Revenue must collect information on fee increases imposed by cities by January 15, 2005 and submit a report to the legislature by February 15. The Department is required to collect information on the type and amount of fees imposed by each city, the revenues derived from each fee for each of the most recent four calendar years and the use of the revenues from the fees. The House bill has no similar language and it is unclear whether the Department of Revenue, or cities for that matter, can gather and compile the information within the required time frame. The end -game? With the constitutional deadline for the end of session just two weeks away, capital insiders and others are wondering how and when the session will end. Key legislative issues have For more information on city legislative issues, contact any member of the League of Minnesota Cities Intergovernmental Relations team. 651.281.1200 or 800.925.1122 Apr 30 2004 16:5727 Via Fax _> 6514SZO940 Administrator PdgE 003 Of 004 -FridayFax- A weekly legislative update from the League of ]Minnesota Cities become more and more divisive between the House and Senate as this session nears the constitutional adjournment date, particularly with deciding how the remaining omnibus bills will be processed. One major sticking point is how to conference the very different approaches used by the House and Senate to balance the $160 million budget. deficit and provide additional funding for certain policy priorities, such as crime prevention and health care. The Senate solution is contained in two bills—HF 956, which includes spending reductions to address the budget deficit, and HF 2028 which contains the Senate's supplemental appropriations and certain budget cuts and revenue increases to cover these new costs. The House passed eight separate pieces of legislation that together resolve the $160 million budget deficit and make supplemental appropriations --each bill corresponding to certain related issue areas. Under the Senate's two -bill plan, fewer members would conferee the omnibus bill while the House would include more members in final negotiations over several omnibus budget bills. Omnibus budget bill conference committees have traditionally involved five members from each body who iron out a compromise. Conference committees on smaller bills often have three members from each side. The delay in the budget -balancing proposals is affecting other major unresolved issues, including the bonding bill and the tax bill. Both House and Senate leadership have sent the message that the state budget deficit must be resolved before others matters can be worked Out. Other unresolved issues include a possible stadium bill and a variety of policy matters. April 30, 2004 Page 3 Earlier this week, the House actually Look -up the Senate's supplemental budget bill, HF 2028, on the floor. A motion was made to send the bill back to the Senate for further consideration. This move was triggered by House members who believe that the Senate's supplemental appropriations bill is unconstitutional because it addresses several different fiscal and policy subjects in a single bill. This motion would have required a suspension of the Rules—which requires a 2/3 majority—and the House was not able to get enough votes to send the bill back to the Senate. After the vote to send HF 2028 back failed, a motion was made to concur with the Senate bill. This move forced the DFL House members to take an official position on the Senate DFL plan. The motion failed on a vote of 4-124. The House then voted to place the bill back on the table, which has the effect of preventing the appointment of a conference committee. The House passed a bonding bill off the floor on Thursday afternoon that includes projects from around the state, but not the controversial Northstar commuter rail project. For weeks Senate members have said that they would release a bill once the House was able to pass something off the floor, and there was some speculation that the House might not be able to do that given the 60 percent majority requirement to pass a bonding bill. The Senate is expected to publicly release their bill early next week. The House Tax committee has spent the week discussing the stadium bill, and the Senate has indicated they will hold hearings on this issue in the upcoming days. Gambling remains another issue for the Legislature to consider in the respective Lax committees, although the For more information on city legislative issues, contact any member of The League of Minnesota Cities Intergovernmental Relations team. 651.281.1200 or 800.925.1122 Apr 30 Z004 16:50:10 Via Fax _> 6S145ZB940 Administrator Page 004 Of 004 -FridayFax- LMC A weekly legislative update from the League of Minnesota Cities April 30, 2004 Page 4 Racino proposal was approved last year by the To participate contact Lynn Peterson House and that could be rejuvenated by the 651.281.1254 or 1peterson@lninc.org. Senate. But with just two weeks left to go in the official session, there is a tremendous amount of work to complete --not only on fiscal matters, but also some major policy issues. For a more complete run-down on the status of various policy and fiscal issues, see the legislative update in the April 28 edition of the Cities Bulletin. With the volume of work remaining, a special session is beginning to appear like a certainty. If the legislature fails to complete its work, the question becomes when, and under what circumstances, will the governor call the legislature back. Stay tuned. Take part in LMC policy committees Soon it will be time to begin preparing for the 2005 legislative session with the League's policy development committees. This is your opportunity to help the League establish its legislative policies for the coming two-year period. There will be 3 to 4 meetings per policy committee from June through September held at the League office in St. Paul. The four policy committees are: Improving Local Economies, Improving Service Delivery, Improving Fiscal Futures, Personnel Services. At LMC Regional Meetings during July and August, members will have an opportunity to review the policy issues that policy committee members crafted during their first meetings in June. Members will then be able to comment on the policy committees' draft policies during the fall Annual Conference to be held October 9 — 12 in Duluth. Upcoming committee hearings Tuesday, May 4, 2004 Senate Capital Investment Committee 9:00 am Room 123, State Capitol Agenda: S.F. 2097-Ranum: Clarifying division of proceeds of sale of state bond financed property. S.F. XXXX-Langseth: Omnibus bonding bill. Senate Finance Committee Immediately after session (session is at 12 noon) Room 123, State Capitol Agenda: S.F. 1774 -Kelley: Omnibus education bill. S.F. XXXX-Langseth: Bonding bill. Other agenda items to be announced. Nouse Ways and Means Committee 2:00 pm or after the House Floor Session Basement Hearing Room, State Office Building Agenda: To Be Announced* Thursday, May 6, 2004 [douse Ways and Means Committee 2:00 pm or after the House Floor Session Room 200, State Office Building Agenda: To Be Announced* * HF 2625 (Kuisle), a bill that includes property appraisal and eminent domain provisions, may be heard. For more information on city legislative issues, contact any member of the League of Minnesota Cities Intergovernmental Relations team. 651.281.1200 or 800.925.1122 Association of Metropolitan Municipalities AMM News Page 1 of 2 May 3 - 7, 2004 ARCHIVES Senate Bonding Bill Totals $948.7 Million The Senate Capital Investment Committee released a $948.7 million bonding bill (S.F. 3057) Tuesday, of which $889 million would be funded with general obligation bonds. This is significantly larger than the bonding bill approved by the House last week, which totals $677.6 million, with $601.7 million to be financed by general obligation bonds. In the Senate bill, approximately one-third of the fiends would go to higher education -- $115.6 million for the University of Minnesota and $176.6 for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. Other major expenditure areas include $148 million for the environment, $69.6 million for transportation projects, $180 million for economic development activities and $70.4 million for corrections. At this time, the transportation category includes just $2 million for the Northstar Commuter Rail project, however, Senator Langseth, chair of the Capital Investment Committee, cautioned that this was just a starting point for negotiations with the House. The House bonding bill does not include any money for Northstar. Also under the transportation category, the bill awards $9.25 million to the Metropolitan Council -- $5.25 million for the Central Corridor transitway, $1 million each for the Rush Line Corridor and the Red Rock Corridor transitways, and $2 million for a transit hub at St. Paul's Union Depot. Of these, only the $1 million for the Rush Line Corridor was included in the House bill. Additionally, the Senate bill does not include funding for the Cedar Avenue transitway, which was appropriated $10 million in the House bill. In the natural resources area, the Senate includes $19 million for acquisition and betterment of parks in the metropolitan area. Of this amount $7 million would go to the Met Council for disbursement through their traditional regional park funding process, while the other $12 million is earmarked for specific park projects. These projects include the Hastings River Flats ($1M), Lake of Isles flood mitigation ($2.5 M), Raspberry Island ($3 M) and Port Crosby in South St. Paull ($5 M). The Senate bill also includes $29.8 million for flood hazard mitigation grants, which is $9.8 million over the Governor's recommendation and the House bill. In the Senate bill, the entire $29.8 million is earmarked for projects in specific cities, including Golden Valley, Inver Grove Heights, Minneapolis, and St. Louis Park in the metro area. The Senate bill provides $20 million to the Mimiesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) for the supportive housing program originally proposed by the Governor, which was not funded by the House, and $10 million to the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) for a statewide redevelopment grant program, which was awarded $15 million in the House bill. The Senate bill, however, also includes numerous local economic development, redevelopment and infrastructure enhancement projects not funded by the House. These include $24 million for the Minnesota Planetarium and $8 million for the Shubert Theater, both in Minneapolis; plus $8 million for renovation of the Ordway Center, $5 million for a bioscience corridor and $4 million http://www.aiiuii145.org/iiewsletter.litiii 5/5/2004 Association of Metropolitan Municipalities Page 2 of 2 for Phalen Blvd. in St. Paul. The bonding bill is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor on Thursday. House Bonding Bill Includes Local Match and Approval Requirements The bonding bill passed by the House last week places several new conditions on the release of bond fronds to political subdivisions. First of all, if a project awarded state bond funds requires a local government match of $1 million or more, the local governing body must unanimously adopt a resolution supporting the use of the fiends or have the direct approval of the voters through a referendum. If more than one local government is required to contribute a match of $1 million or more, each local government must meet this requirement individually. Local units of government may elect riot to have a vote of the governing body and go directly to the voters if they wish. Secondly, the bill requires local governments that must contribute a non -state match of any size to certify to the Commissioner of Finance that at least 80 percent of the required amount of non -state money has been spent before the Commissioner can release any of the state funds appropriated to the project. At this time, the Senate bill does not include either of these requirements. AMM. -News is sent periodically to all AMM city managers and administrators. The information is intended to be shared with mayors, council and staff in order to keep officials abreast of important metro city issues. © Copyright 2004 AMM 145 University Avenue West St. Paul, MN 55103-2044 Telephone: 651-215-4000 Fax: 651-281-1299 Email: amm@amm145.org http://www.amm 145.org/newsletter.htm 5/5/2004