2008-01-11 Friday News
Friday News
APRIL 22, 2016 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1
Attachments:
1. Just the
Fact.
2. Pipeline
3. January 15,
2008 City
Council
Agenda
4. Annual Get
Together
Flyer
5. Letter
regarding
Information-
al Open
House
ARC Update
Congrats to Liz and Robin. After a long, hard- fought campaign, Liz Petschel was
elected as Chair of ARC and Robin Ehrlich was elected as the Vice Chair of the ARC
this Wednesday evening at their January meeting. Thanks to both for being willing to
take on this added work. Robin is replacing Ellsworth Stein who is being “termed
out”. Ellsworth is the last remaining, originally appointed ARC member from when the
ARC was formed in 1993.
Dakota County Farmland and
Natural Areas Program (FNAP)
Al Singer from Dakota County stopped by on Thursday with copies of the joint powers
agreement between Dakota County and the City. After I signed the agreement, Al
gave me a $410,000 check for the County’s contribution through FNAP towards the
Pilot Knob II acquisition project. Our tentative closing date for the property is now
January 25, 2008.
Al also provided an update on FNAP and land protection activities throughout the
County. With approximately 3,100 acres now protected and a number of projects in
varying stages of completion, the original $20 Million of FNAP funding has a balance
of $2 million. One of the projects involves the protection and management of an over
4,000 acre complex in Empire Township as a partnership between the County, the
University of Minnesota, DNR and the Metropolitan Council. The County Board adopted
a 2008 goal of determining the future direction of land protection and future funding.
The Board also adopted a goal of creating a greenway collaborative throughout the
county to plan and implement an interconnected system of parks and trails and open
spaces to provide water quality, recreation and wildlife habitat benefits. In the
meantime, County staff continues to work creatively with watershed management
organizations, non-profit organizations, cities and the State to coordinate the
acquisition of important properties in the context of the County’s Comprehensive Plan
Update and the new draft Parks Master Plan.
Al is also hoping to soon announce an agreement with Dodge Nature Center which will
ensure permanent protection of their property in the City.
Planning Calls Ramping Up
The cold winter must have people speculating about property – Jake reports that his
phone is constantly ringing with land use calls. Several residents are calling to find
out about code requirements relating to home additions, pools, etc. The industrial
park has also been active, with a number of inquiries regarding allowable uses and
setbacks for some of the remaining vacant lots. It looks like this could be a busy
spring for the Planning Commission.
City Party
If you haven’t already, please remember to RSVP to Linda for next Friday’s Annual Get
Together at “The Sage”.
January Dates to Remember
NOC Meeting January 16, 2008
DCC Board of Directors Mtg January 17, 2008
City Council Meeting January 15, 2008 (Comm. Interviews Beforehand)
Planning Commission Mtg January 22, 2008
Dakota County Sustainability Summit - January 30, 2008
Government Training Services – Rethinking Local Land Use Planning – January 30,
2008
Respectfully Submitted,
Jim Danielson
City Administrator