HomeMy Public PortalAboutFeb March 2010 Inside this issue:
$100,000 Grant Awarded to Hamel Legion Park
Field House.......................................................Pg. 1
Census 2010: It’s in Our Hands....................Pg. 1
Seasonal Spring Weight Limits.......................Pg. 2
Snow Plowing Report......................................Pg. 2
Livestock Owners can Help Protect Water..Pg. 2
Winter Safety Tips............................................Pg. 3
City Business Profile: Rockler.......................Pg. 3
2010 Budget......................................................Pg. 4
Why Can’t I Recycle All My Plastics?............Pg. 5
2010 Precinct Caucuses...................................Pg. 5
Rural Commercial Holding Ordinance.........Pg. 5
Uptown Hamel Skating/Sledding Social.......Pg. 5
4th Annual Pioneer Winter.............................Pg. 5
City Calendar
February
3rd Wed—City Council 7:00 pm
9th Tues—Planning Commission 7:00 pm
15th Mon—City Offices Closed (Holiday)
16th Tues—City Council 7:00 pm
17th Wed—Park Commission 7:00 pm
20th Sat—City Council Office Hours 9:00 am
March
2nd Tues—City Council 7:00 pm
9th Tues—Planning Commission 7:00 pm
16th Tues—City Council 7:00 pm
17th Wed—Park Commission 7:00 pm
20th Sat—City Council Office Hours 9:00 am
All meetings at City Hall unless otherwise noted.
Meeting agendas on web site when available.
City Council Saturday Office Hours
City Council Saturday Office Hours are on the 3rd
Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at
City Hall. The office hours are an informal setting
and serve as an opportunity for residents to bring
your thoughts to elected officials for a better Medina.
Upcoming Public Hearings/Meetings
Planning Commission Public Hearings at 7 p.m. at
City Hall
February 9, 2010 – the following Hearings are tentatively scheduled:
► Open Systems International (northwest corner of Highway 55 and
Arrowhead Drive) – Preliminary Plat, Site Plan Review, Conditional
Use Permit, and Zoning Amendment to create a 19-acre parcel and
for construction of a 92,000 square foot office building.
► Enclave of Medina (3212 Hunter Drive) – Concept Plan Review for a
potential 195-lot subdivision of single family homes on an approxi-
mately 111 acre site.
March 9, 2010 – agenda items are not yet set for this meeting. If inter-
ested, please contact City Hall to sign up to receive email updates of Plan-
ning Commission and City Council meetings.
Board of Appeal and Equalization on April 14, 2010 at
6:30 p.m. at City Hall—This meeting is held annually for the pur-
pose of reviewing and correcting the 2010 assessed property values or
property classifications in the City of Medina. All persons considering
themselves aggrieved by said assessment or who wish to complain that the
property of another is assessed too low, may appear at the meeting and
show cause for having such assessment corrected.
The burden of proof is on the resident to justify a decrease in prop-
erty value. The City is requesting that residents complete a City applica-
tion prior to attending the meeting. The application will be posted on the
City’s website in March.
CITY OFFICE INFO
2052 County Road 24
Medina, MN 55340-9790
p: 763-473-4643
f: 763-473-9359
e: city@ci.medina.mn.us
PUBLIC SAFETY
p: 763-473-9209
f: 763-473-8858
City Hall Office Hours
Mon-Fri 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Mayor
Tom Crosby 612-332-9111
City Council
Carolyn Smith 763-475-1003
Daniel Johnson 763-473-0744
Elizabeth Weir 763-473-3226
Mike Siitari 763-473-2563
City Council Meetings
First & third Tuesday of each
month at 7:00 p.m.
Planning Commission
Meetings
Second Tuesday of each
month at 7:00 p.m.
Park Commission Meetings
Third Wednesday of each
month at 7:00 p.m.
Newsletter Editor
City Administrator
Chad M. Adams
Other Contributors
Jodi Gallup
Feb / Mar 2010
Census 2010: It’s In Our Hands
The 2010 Census Count will be beginning soon and residents are encouraged to
complete the census. The 2010 Census is important to Minnesota, because: 1. Num-
bers mean power; 2. Numbers mean money; and, 3. Numbers mean information.
Minnesota currently holds eight congressional seats in the U.S. House of Repre-
sentatives. The 2010 Census will help determine if Minnesota will retain the eight
seats, or possibly lose one. In addition to retaining a congressional seat, some other
important uses of the 2010 Census include: Census is used to allocate $400 billion per
year for roads, hospitals, and other community services; Census is used to allocate state
dollars such as municipal state aid and local government aid (LGA); Census is also used
for planning local operations such as fire, police, and other related needs.
Some key upcoming dates related to the 2010 Census include:
► March 2010: Census Bureau will mail the forms to all residential addresses.
► April 1, 2010: Census Day.
► Late spring 2010: Census Bureau will follow up on forms not returned.
► December 31, 2010: Apportionment Counts released.
► Before April 1, 2011: Redistricting Data released.
Source: League of Minnesota Cities
$100,000 Grant Awarded to Hamel Legion Park Field House
The City of Medina recently was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Hennepin
Youth Sports Program for the Field House project in Hamel Legion Park. The grant
funding and program was made available as part of the Minnesota Twins stadium sales
tax authorization (Section 473.757, subd. 10 of Minnesota Statutes) which required a
portion of the sales tax to create a grant program for youth activities and amateur
sports within Hennepin County.
The Field House project in Hamel Legion Park is on schedule to be completed this
spring in time for the start of the Hamel Baseball Program. Specifically, the grant will
be used to irrigate one ball field, complete fence repair/installation, provide garbage/
recycling containers and enclosure, finish landscaping, and, purchase a commercial
grade refrigerator for concessions in the facility. The source of the water to irrigate the
ball field will come from the building and parking lot storm water run off that will be
retained in a City storm water pond and
pumped back to the fields.
The Field House itself is being funded
through donations and City park dedication
funds. To operate the concessions of the
building, the City is seeking a group or or-
ganization to provide the services in 2010.
Any interested group or organization
should contact Assistant to City Adminis-
trator Jodi Gallup prior to February 19th.
Public Works & Environment
Page 2 Feb / Mar 2010
Livestock Owners can Help Protect our Water
By Betsy Wieland, Agriculture Extension Educator for Hennepin County, University of Minnesota
When it comes to the health and quality of our surface waters (like lakes, creeks and wetlands), livestock owners, including
horse owners, have at times been seen only in a negative light. However, not much has been said about what we may be doing
that is good for water quality. Livestock owners may not know the good they are already achieving for our water. This article
lists several Best Management Practices (BMPs) that livestock owners can imple-
ment to protect our surface water quality. Are you using any of these BMPs? Are
there others you could implement that would help even more?
Clean water diversions keep clean water clean. Redirecting clean rainwater
and roof runoff away from bare dirt and manure limits erosion and contamination.
Examples of this are rain gutters on the barn or a berm around manure piles.
Manure management includes storing and disposing of manure properly. It
prevents nutrients from leaching and washing into water sources. Two examples
include storing manure on an impervious surface and spreading manure at rates that
don’t overload the soil with nutrients. Composting is a form of manure manage-
ment that can help reduce manure volume, inhibit fly growth, and stabilize nutrients
for future use.
Vegetative filter strips are strips of land with vegetation between a potential pollutant (bare soil, manure, chemicals) and
surface water. It increases storm water soaking into the ground and filters out sediment, manure nutrients, and chemicals from
storm water before the water reaches the surface water. Excluding livestock from these areas is a form of filter strip.
Erosion control keeps valuable soil out of the water and in place. Repairing gullies and establishing prairie grasses is one
example of this. Stream crossings or water access points provide a safe crossing point, or access to water that has stabilized
banks are two more examples.
Good pasture management increases the amount of food produced for livestock and protects water quality. Having a
healthy, actively growing pasture will reduce erosion, reduce nutrient run off, and increase storm water infiltration. This is not
one practice, but a combination of many including: rest periods for the plants; managing weeds; appropriate numbers of ani-
mals per acre; possibly rotational grazing; proper fertilizing through soil tests; and, judicious manure or fertilizer applications.
Little information has been gathered about what BMPs livestock owners implement, and which are not widely adopted.
To clarify this, in February I will mail surveys to livestock owners in Medina regarding what BMPs are already being imple-
mented. The anonymous survey will also hopefully give insight into which are not widely used, and why. This is a chance to
describe all the great things we are already doing and why. It is a pilot that will be expanded to the rest of the county to gain a
better understanding of the scope of BMPs among livestock owners. For more information, contact me at eliza003@umn.edu
or (612)596-1175.
Clean water diversions like rain gutters help
reduce mud and keep clean water clean.
Seasonal Spring Weight Limits
The Medina Police want to remind everyone that spring
weight restrictions will go into effect in early March. If you are
planning a construction project, please ensure that you have your
materials delivered prior to the weight restrictions. There will be
no exceptions to the postings other than emergency services.
The reason for the restrictions is to protect our roads and
keep the cost of road repair down for all taxpayers. We ask all
of our residents and business owners to keep an eye out for large
trucks using the roads during the restriction period. If you see
them using a restricted road, please call 9-1-1 and report it. Help
protect your roads! For questions, you can call the Medina Po-
lice Department at 763-473-9209.
Snow Plowing Report
The Public Works Department has been working on
balancing safety with environmental awareness and is being
mindful of amounts of salt and sand used on the roads. The
cold weather has hampered the City’s attempts to remove
all ice from roads. As things start warming up and the ice
starts to thaw, the Public Works crew will be scraping the
ice from the roads and making them as clean as possible.
The City snow plowing priority schedule is:
1) Main collector roads
2) Residential streets
3) Cul-de-sacs and dead end streets
4) Trails and ice rinks
Page 5
General Government
Feb / Mar 2010
4th Annual Pioneer Winter - 1862 Reenactment
March 20th & 21st at the Wolsfeld Cabin
Saturday-Sunday 9AM to 5PM
Come and visit with a pioneer family and their friends as they
reenact the pioneer lifestyle circa 1862 at the Wolsfeld Cabin on
the grounds in front of Medina City Hall. See how late winter
was for the pioneers of Minnesota. A Sunday morning church
service will be held at 10 a.m. on March 21st.
The event is free, so stop by and don’t forget to bring your
children and grandchildren! Non-perishable food items will also
be collected at the event and given to a
local food shelf.
For more information contact
Chaplain John B. Palmer at 952-476-
0462, Todd Hein at 612-819-4215, or
Margaret Gilbert at 651-208-5289.
Uptown Hamel Skating/Sledding Social
Saturday, February 13th, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Community members are invited to attend the Up-
town Hamel Skating/Sledding Social on Saturday, Febru-
ary 13th from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. at Hamel Legion Park.
The festivities will be centralized around the Hamel Com-
munity Building, ice skating rink, sledding hill, and fire pit.
The Uptown Hamel Business Group is sponsoring the
event and will be serving hot apple cider and making
s’mores.
For more information visit
the Uptown Hamel Business
Group website at https://
uptownhamel.com or call
Fortin Health and Wellness
Clinic at 763-478-3978.
2010 Precinct Caucuses
February 2, 2010
The Minnesota Precinct Caucuses for the Constitu-
tion Party, Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party,
Green Party, Independence Party, and Republican Party
will be held on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
The City of Medina does not organize the precinct
caucuses. Precinct caucuses are meetings organized by
Minnesota’s political parties through which each party
begins its process of selecting candidates for the 2010
election and policy positions to shape its party platform.
Medina voters can go to the following known loca-
tions to be involved in their party’s precinct caucus:
DFL: Precincts 1A & 1B: Orono Middle School
Independence: Precincts 1A & 1B: Maple Plain City Hall
Republican: Precinct 1A: Orono High School Cafeteria
Republican: Precinct 1B: Hamel Community Building
Check your political party’s website for updated in-
formation or visit the Minnesota Secretary of State’s
online Caucus Finder at caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us.
Why Can’t I Recycle All My Plastics?
If you are confused about plastic recycling, you are not alone
and we want to help! Almost all plastic products are imprinted
with a resin code — a small number enclosed by the “chasing
arrows” symbol. Most disposable plastics are imprinted with #1
or #2 on the bottom. This code is misleading because it does not
indicate whether or not something is recyclable; it indicates the
type of chemical compound, or plastic resin, used to manufacture
that product. For example, plastic bottles, butter tubs, and food/
deli trays, are all made with plastic #1 or #2; however, the proc-
ess used to create the plastics are different:
• Plastic bottles are “blow-molded”
• Plastic butter tubs are “injection-molded”
• Food/Deli trays are “stamp-molded”
The different additives used in each process mean that these
types of material cannot be mixed during recycling, even though
they started with the same #1 or #2 resin code.
Currently, there is not a widespread and stable market for all
plastics, except for plastic bottles with a #1 or #2. So until a
widespread and stable market exists for all plastics, Randy’s Envi-
ronmental Services will only collect plastics that can currently be
recycled (plastic bottles with a #1 or #2 on the bottom).
Rural Commercial Holding and Rural Business Holding Districts Ordinance
The Planning Commission held a Public Hearing and recommended approval of the draft Rural Commercial Holding and
Rural Business Holding Districts Ordinance at their January 12, 2010 meeting and the City Council will review the ordinance at
their meetings in February. These regulations are intended to apply to property which has been identified for commercial devel-
opment at some time in the future, but which cannot develop at this time. When municipal utilities are available, these proper-
ties would be rezoned to a commercial or business district in order to develop.
The City will discuss a variety of additional topics in the months to follow including: a “Point System” to regulate the tim-
ing of future development; Stormwater and Low Impact Development Regulations; Conservation/Open Space Development
ordinance; and, Parking and Signage regulations. If you wish to be involved in the process or desire additional information,
please contact City Planner Dusty Finke at (763) 473-8846 or dusty.finke@ci.medina.mn.us.
Page 4 Feb / Mar 2010
2010 Budget
City of Medina Summary Budget Data
The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of 2010 budget information for the City of Medina citizens. The com-
plete budget may be examined at the Medina City Hall, 2052 County Road 24 or on the City's website at www.ci.medina.mn.us.
The City Council approved the 2010 tax levy and this budget on December 1, 2009.
The City’s 2010 final tax levy was approved at $2,756,158, which included a 1% (or $25,811) increase from 2009. Because
of the increasing tax base in Medina for 2010, approximately 54% of residential single-family lots in the City realized a decrease
in their City tax payments.
Feb / Mar 2010 Page 3
Public Safety & Community
City Business Profile: Rockler Woodworking and Hardware
By: Ann Rockler Jackson, CEO
In 1954 my father, Nordy Rockler, started a mail order woodworking supply company in Minneapolis. It was then known
as Minnesota Woodworkers Supply Company, and among the products featured in the first catalog were specialty wood ve-
neers and hardware items such as knobs, pulls and table slides. Woodworkers responded positively to having a place where
they could always get what they needed.
When I joined the company in 1969, our business was still a small one. We opened our first retail store in Minneapolis in
1978, which was then known as “The Woodworker’s Store.”
Today, our retail chain stretches across the United States and includes over 30 Rockler stores and over 60 partner store
locations. Our catalog has also grown and is now mailed to millions of woodworkers nationwide. Our magazine, Wood-
worker’s Journal, is the leading publication dedicated to offering plans and tips to woodworkers.
Our steady growth – including going from 6 employees in 1969 to over 400 today; the introduction of a number of
“exclusive” products; and our dedication to reaching out to both long-time woodworkers and those new to the craft – was a
personal goal for me and among the proudest accomplishments of the company as a whole.
In 1998, we decided to reflect our commitment to offering hard–to-find hardware (in addition to kits, tools, lumber and
our exclusive shop table line) by changing the name of both our retail and catalog operations to Rockler Woodworking and
Hardware. Customers are constantly telling us how happy they are that they know they’ll be able to get the full-extension
slides, restoration knobs, elbow catch or other specialized hardware they need to complete their project.
We have been on the web since 1996, and are reaching more woodworkers than ever before! Whether you’re a seasoned
pro, a home-improvement enthusiast or a craftsperson, we believe you will enjoy browsing our online catalog, getting interest-
ing tips through our email newsletter, and being the first to find out about some exciting new products! We are constantly on
the lookout for new ways to make all your projects as fulfilling as they can be.
Winter Safety Tips
The Medina Police Department wants to remind everyone that winter can be a fun time of the year, but remember that it
can also be a very dangerous season. Each year, hundreds of people are injured and some are killed during the season. An un-
prepared person who is exposed to the elements can suffer frostbite and hypothermia within minutes. Be prepared. Dress for
the weather; keep your eyes on your children, ensure they are dressed for the weather when out in the elements. Hypothermia
and frostbite can quickly become life threatening.
Every year people fall through the thin ice. It is not recommended to walk on frozen ponds, lakes, rivers, or streams
unless the ice is at least four inches thick. To drive a snowmobile on ice, the ice must be five inches thick and to drive a vehicle
on the ice, the ice must be at least eight inches thick. If you have question about the ice conditions, call Hennepin County Wa-
ter Patrol at 612 596-9880. If you have an emergency, call 9-1-1.
It is recommended you keep the following items in your car should you become stranded:
► A three-pound coffee can with candle stubs, a metal cup, and matches.
This can be used to melt snow for drinking water.
► A red bandanna and a plastic whistle to alert rescuers to your location.
► Bottled water and candy bars for energy food.
► Extra set of dry clothes, snowmobile suit, gloves, winter boots, and sleep-
ing bags.
► A toolbox containing jumper cables, a shovel, a bag of sand, tow cable,
plastic flashlight, extra batteries, pencil and paper, road flares and reflec-
tors.
► Keep your cell phone and charger with you when you travel.
If you become stranded, stay with your vehicle. Enjoy the winter and stay prepared!