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HomeMy Public PortalAboutJune July 2010 Inside this issue: Tomann Preserve Land Dedication...............Pg. 1 2010 Election Information..............................Pg. 1 New Friends of the Park Program.................Pg. 2 Storm Water Utility Project Summary...........Pg. 2 Switch to Compact Fluorescent Lights.........Pg. 2 Survey Results for Livestock Owners............Pg. 2 U.S. Flag Etiquette...........................................Pg. 3 City Business Profile: Walter G. Anderson...Pg. 3 How to Deal with Wild Animals In Medina.Pg. 3 City Calendar June 1st Tues—City Council 7:00 pm 8th Tues—Planning Commission 7:00 pm 15th Tues—City Council 7:00 pm 16th Wed—Park Commission 7:00 pm July 5th Mon—City Offices Closed (Holiday) 6th Tues—City Council 7:00 pm 13th Tues—Planning Commission 7:00 pm 20th Tues—City Council 7:00 pm 21st Wed—Park Commission 7:00 pm All meetings at City Hall unless otherwise noted. Meeting agendas on website when available. Upcoming Public Hearings/Meetings Planning Commission Public Hearings (meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall) The Planning Commission will meet on June 8, 2010 and July 13, 2010. The following projects are currently under review and are likely to be reviewed at one of the Public Hearings. Contact the Planning Department for more information at (763) 473-4643, or, if you live near one of the projects, watch your mailbox for a notice of the Public Hearing. The following projects are under review: 3212 Hunter Drive – Lennar Corporation – proposed residen- tial subdivision to include 140 single family homes and 42 townhomes. The request includes a Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Rezoning, and Preliminary Plat. Rezonings – the City’s updated 2010-2030 Comprehensive Plan made a number of changes to the types of land use which are planned for numerous properties throughout the City. The City is now required to update the zoning of properties to be consistent with the updated Plan. Development Staging Point System – the City’s 2010-2030 Comprehensive Plan establishes timeframes when certain property will be allowed to develop. The Plan allows flexi- bility to these timeframes if certain City objectives (natural resource protection, low impact design, higher quality archi- tectural design, etc.) are met by a development. The Point System will allow the City to evaluate this flexibility. Summer City Council Saturday Office Hours Suspended City Council Saturday Office Hours will experience a summer break during the months of June, July, and Au- gust. They will reconvene in September through the end of the year on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at City Hall. Please check the City’s web- site for scheduling confirmation/cancellation. 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 June / July 2010 2010 Primary and General Election Information Election season is fast approaching! Please use the following information for your reference: ► Primary Election: Tuesday, August 10, 2010. Polls open 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ► General Election: Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Polls open 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ► Polling place for Precinct 1A: Medina City Hall, 2052 County Road 24 ► Polling place for Precinct 1B: Hamel Community Building, 3200 Mill Drive Absentee Voting Minnesota law allows for a person to apply to vote by absentee ballot if they are unable to vote in person on election day because they are: 1) absent from home precinct; 2) ill or disabled; 3) an election judge serving in a precinct other than their own; or 4) un- able to go to polling place due to a religious observance or belief. Residents may obtain an absentee ballot application by visiting the City’s website at http://www.ci.medina.mn.us/election/election.htm, calling City Hall, or by stopping by City Hall during regular business hours to fill out absentee materials. Absentee bal- lots will be available from June 25th through August 9th for the Primary Election and from September 17th through October 31st for the General Election. Additionally, City Hall will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 7th and Saturday October 30th for absentee voting. Municipal Elections The City of Medina will have three positions on the ballot during the November Gen- eral Election. The Mayor (2 year term) and two City Council (4 year terms) positions are at-large positions, representing all Medina residents. Persons interested in running for these offices may file at City Hall. The filing period opens at 8:00 a.m. on August 3, 2010 and closes at 5:00 p.m. on August 17, 2010. Please contact Election Coordinator Jodi Gallup at (763) 473-4643 or jodi.gallup@ci.medina.mn.us for further information. Tomann Preserve Land Dedication On May 22nd, the City recognized and thanked the Tomann family at a land dedi- cation ceremony for the land that Terry and Mary Tomann donated to the City, to be used as a passive park/preserve. The park commission and city council named the new park “Tomann Preserve”. The picture to the right shows park commissioners, council members, residents, and Tomann family gathered in front of the new city park sign. Environment Page 2 June / July 2010 Storm Water Utility Project Summary The City’s Storm Water Utility was created in May 2008 to help pay for future infrastructure costs related to storm water, as well as fund the operations of the City’s storm water man- agement program. The City recently sent out storm water util- ity bills to residents and businesses. Here is some background and a few examples of where funds have been spent to provide a better understanding on the need for the utility fees: ► The City created the storm water utility fee as a more fair way of generating revenue, rather than through increased property taxes, where some institutions (i.e. public prop- erty, churches, etc.) would have been exempt from contrib- uting toward increasing storm water needs and mandates. ► In updating the City’s Comprehensive Plan, the City was required to prepare a Local Surface Water Management (LSWMP) Plan by the Metropolitan Council. The City used the storm water fees to prepare the plan. Fee revenue is also used to partially fund the personnel costs to manage the LSWMP . ► The City is required by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to implement best management practices for the City’s Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program (SWPPP) required annually to be maintained and reported. ► Fee revenues are being used as a City cost-share to receive grants for infrastructure projects. The Lake Independence Shoreline Restoration and Buffering Program benefited from a Board of Water and Soils Resources grant, which was matched with City storm water funds. ► See Storm Water Utility on the City’s website for additional expenditures of storm water utility funds. New Friends of the Park Program On May 4, 2010 the City Council adopted a new program created by the Park Commission called Friends of the Park. The City of Medina’s Friends of the Park Program was cre- ated to be a community effort organized to beautify, clean and maintain the City’s parks and open spaces for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. Participants can become “Friends of the Park” by cleaning up garbage and litter, planting flowers, shrubs or trees, removing noxious weeds from these areas, or conducting other City approved park projects. Community groups or individuals interested in improving local parks and open space will be asked to submit an applica- tion to the City for review. Applications can be found on the City’s website at www.ci.medina.mn.us. Once the project has been approved by the City, the Public Works Superintendent will meet with the participants to provide further direction. Make the Switch to Compact Fluorescent Lights & Save $$ If you haven't made the switch to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs at home, now is a great time to imple- ment this energy-saving practice. Lighting accounts for about 20 percent of the average home’s electric bill. An EN- ERGY STAR qualified CFL produces the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb, but uses about 75 percent less energy and lasts up to 10 times longer. Using a CFL bulb saves an average of $30 in electricity costs over its lifetime and will prevent the release of more than 450 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, they must be recycled to pro- tect the environment. It is illegal to place fluorescent light bulbs in the trash. Some CFLs and incandescent bulbs look alike, so check what type of bulb you have prior to disposal. CFLs are recognizable by their spiral shape. Some CFLs may have a glass cover over the spiral lamp portion. There are many easy and convenient recycling options for CFLs. Home Depot, Menards, and Ikea stores offer free recycling of unbroken CFLs. Hennepin County also accepts all types of fluorescent, high intensity discharge, and neon bulbs free of charge from households at drop- off facilities located at 1400 W. 96th St., Bloomington, and 8100 Jefferson Highway, Brooklyn Park. There is a limit of 25 bulbs per household per year. For more information, call 612-348-3777, or visit the A to Z How-to-Get-Rid-of-It Guide at www.hennepin.us, search: A to Z. Survey Results for Livestock Owner Water Quality Practices Betsy Wieland with the University of Minnesota Ex- tension in Hennepin County has completed the results to the survey sent out to Medina livestock owners this past February. A summary of the report is currently available on the City’s website under Livestock Owner Water Qual- ity Survey. A full report of the survey will later be uploaded to the City’s website upon completion. Check out the web- site in coming months as educational workshops will be scheduled and promoted. Page 3 General Government June / July 2010 City Business Profile: Walter G. Anderson, Inc. Walter G. Anderson, Inc. manufactures folding cartons, the retail pa- per boxes you see on grocery store shelves. Walter G. Anderson has been in business since 1950. Previously located on Washington Avenue in Min- neapolis, they are now enjoying their 25th year in their facility in Medina. Walter G. Anderson’s facility was originally 106,000 square feet, and to- day, after 5 additions is over 270,000 square feet. They currently employ over 200 people, many of them second and third generation. The plant employees are represented by the Teamsters and Steelworkers unions. Employees commute from all over the metro area, and as far away as St. Cloud and Hudson. The majority of Walter G. Anderson’s folding carton customers are in the food industry. Companies like General Mills, Malt O Meal, ConAgra and Hormel, to name a few. But they also produce ammunition packaging for Federal Cartridge, sandpaper cartons for 3M, and supply many other successful, Midwest based companies with packaging that helps sell and protect their product. Walter G. Anderson, Inc. is proud of their accomplishments and looks forward to serving their customers, employees and community for years to come. U.S. Flag Etiquette When celebrating Flag Day on June 14 or Independence Day on July 4 this summer, take the opportunity to teach our younger genera- tions about flag etiquette. It is the custom to display the flag from sunrise to sunset on buildings and stationary flagstaffs in the open. For patriotic effect, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated. Here are a few of the rules for proper dis- play and use of the U.S. flag, as established by generally accepted custom and by Public Law 829, approved by Congress as the “Federal Flag Code.” ► The U.S. flag, when carried in a procession with another flag it should be on the marching right. ► When the flag is displayed from a motor- car, it must be on a staff; the staff shall be fixed to the chassis or clamped to the right fender. ► No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the U.S. flag. ► The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire dis- tress. ► The flag should never touch anything be- neath it, such as ground, the floor, water, or merchandise. ► The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free. ► The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning. For more information on Flag Etiquette, visit the City’s website at www.ci.medina.mn.us to download the Office of the Minnesota Sec- retary of State’s Guide to Flag Etiquette. How to Deal with Wild Animals in Medina Over the past few years, the Medina Police Department has received many reports of wild predators running throughout our City. We have received reports on wolves, coyotes, bears, and cougars. The fact is that with the rural character of Medina, any of these animals could be here at any given time. We know that the coyotes live here and their numbers are increasing. The other predators have been here and do pass through from time to time. The question everyone is asking is, “Is there a safety con- cern?” Wild animal attacks are very rare. In Medina we have no records of anyone ever being attacked by a wild predator. With that being said, we do have reports of domestic animals being killed by coyotes in the area. Any of the predators are very protective of their offspring. If you would happen to come upon a mother and her young, it is recommended to stay calm and speak in a normal tone, and wave your arms above your head and back away. This lets the animal know that you are human. By waving your arms above your head, it makes you look larger to the animal. In most cases if the animal gets a scent or sees you, they will run off. Most of the predators are nocturnal. If you see a wild predator dur- ing the day, please call the police. There are diseases, such as rabies or distemper that cause these animals to become aggressive and disorien- tated. If this is the case, please dial 9-1-1. This can be potentially danger- ous. To answer the question of the safety concern for humans, it is very low. But for your domestic pets, there is a concern. If you have small dogs or cats, we recommend that you watch them while they are outside. If the coyotes get too close, call the police. If you have further questions, you can call the Medina Police Depart- ment at 763-473-9209.