City of Eden Prairie Blogs

This is a picture of my good friend and colleague Fire Chief Nyle Zikmund. Nyle is the Chief of the Blaine/Spring Lake Park/Moundsview Fire Department. Nyle is a progressive thinker in the fire service and his fire department reflects that vision with a very strong fire prevention and inspection program. Nyle is also very involved in the legislative process and knows his way around the scene at our legislature.

In this picture Nyle is on-scene at a fire in Spring Lake Park. He was riding along with one of his staff people when the fire call came in. Nyle got right into the thick of things helping to pull lines off the truck and making the hydrant connection. Way to go Nyle!

Eden Prairie is represented by two Commissioners on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. Most of Eden Prairie is represented by Commissioner Randy Johnson. That's him to the right of Mayor Tyra-Lukens. To the left of the Mayor is Commissioner Linda Koblick. Commissioner Koblick represents everything in Eden Prairie north of Valley View Drive.

For today's post I have pasted in the content of a regular email update on Hennepin County activities that I received from Commissioner Koblick's office. I would venture to say that most people in Eden Prairie are not aware of the breadth of issues that are handled by County government. I hope my readers will take just a few minutes to read this update. You might find a surprise or two.The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, on a vote of five to two, approved a resolution authorizing staff to take the actions needed to begin work on a ballpark in downtown Minneapolis, consistent with the State of Minnesota's authorizing legislation. For more details, see the news release on the Hennepin County website -www.hennepin.us.

Land use plan changes will target unauthorized use of railroad property

The board, acting as the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA), adopted revisions to the authority's land-use management plan. The revisions are intended to remedy the increasing number of unauthorized uses of railroad property owned by the HCRRA by neighboring residents.

Unauthorized uses include parking and storing boats, trailers, motor vehicles and equipment; constructing fences, play structures and buildings; dumping brush and yard waste; and cutting, removing and destroying trees, bushes, grass or other vegetation.

The HCRRA owns several abandoned railroad corridors throughout the county, including the Southwest LRT, Dakota Rail, Northeast Diagonal and Midtown corridors. The corridors are being preserved for future transit, and many have interim park trails on them.

HCRRA staff visited each community in which the authority owns property to make presentations on unauthorized uses of rail authority right-of-way.

Following the community meetings, staff prepared recommended revisions to the HCRRA's land-use management plan. A public hearing to receive input from residents on proposed changes was held June 8.

Grant will help city police improve relations with minority communities

The board approved $218,800 in grant funding to continue its support of the Joint Community Police Partnership Program (JCPP), a joint effort including Hennepin County, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park and the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council. In 2005 the County Board pledged support to the two cities and their police departments to improve interactions between staff and immigrant minority populations.

In the last year, JCPP has established a community-based advisory committee, conducted cultural training for police officers, held community forums and had question-and-answer sessions at English-as-a-second-language classes. JCPP also is planning a six-week New Americans' Academy to connect community with police.

The grant will fund three community service officer positions for the Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park police departments. The new part-time staff will share their knowledge of diverse communities and assist with community training, events and other community efforts aimed at improving relationships. The grant also will purchase telephonic interpreting services, so police have immediate access to interpreter services.

Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health also will provide $75,000 in funding to support these activities.

Funding approved for 66th Street project in Richfield

Hennepin County is working with Richfield to implement the Hennepin Community Works 66th Street/Portland Avenue redevelopment project. The board approved $2 million in funding for project planning and acquisition of properties required for reconstruction from Aug. 1, 2006, to Dec. 31, 2008.

The 66th Street (Hennepin County State Aid Highway 53) Corridor extends from Cedar Avenue on the east, adjacent to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, to Xerxes Avenue - Richfield's western boundary with Edina. The corridor serves as a major crosstown connection between the airport/Mall of America and the Southtown area.

County officials say a corridor approach to redeveloping 66th Street is based on the principles of the Hennepin Community Works Program - to stimulate employment, strengthen community connections, improve natural systems, and coordinate public and private resources.

The project will focus on redevelopment and traffic issues at three key intersections at Cedar Avenue, Portland Avenue and Penn Avenue.

Probation office planned for Northeast Minneapolis

The board approved a lease agreement for rental space for a Community Corrections neighborhood probation office at 2632 Central Avenue N.E. in Minneapolis. The office, located in the Second Precinct, would include one adult and one juvenile probation officer.

Approximately 4,000 juveniles and 25,000 adults are on probation or parole back in their home communities throughout the county. Community Corrections has been working for some time to decentralize probation services away from offices in downtown Minneapolis, out into the communities where probationers are returning home to live and work. Other offices are located in neighborhoods in North and South Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, and a suburban juvenile probation office recently opened as part of Bren Road Education Center in Minnetonka.

Probation officers work closely with police and neighborhood associations to reduce and deter crime and become an active part of activities in the community.

County to explore redevelopment possibilities for Minneapolis Armory

The board approved a resolution, offered by Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, directing staff to investigate reuse/redevelopment potential for the Minneapolis National Guard Armory at 500 S. Sixth St. in downtown Minneapolis.

The Armory, an historic landmark, is currently being used as a parking ramp owned and operated by Armory Development II LLC, which has expressed interest in redeveloping the property for other uses.

Both Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and Metropolitan Health Plan (the HMO operated by the county and affiliated with HCMC) have expressed interest in expanding into the Armory.

Development could include establishing a skyway through the Armory, providing a critical link in the skyway system between downtown Minneapolis and Downtown East, which includes HCMC, the Juvenile Justice Center and the county Health Services Building.

Hennepin partners with six counties to end homelessness

Since the seven metro counties are home to 77 percent of the state's homeless, those counties are working together to develop a coordinated response to end long-term homelessness.

Hennepin, Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties are developing a regional plan that best integrates housing and services, maximizes resources, and targets supportive housing projects funded through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. The counties sought and received a $5-million grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services for the plan. Hennepin is serving as fiscal agent, and the board voted Tuesday to accept the grant.

The grant is part of the governor's plan to end long-term homelessness. The counties will work with Hearth Connection, a nonprofit that has been operating a state-supported pilot program on supportive housing and managed care. Hearth Connection will administer seamless delivery of services and coordinate resource allocation. The grant runs through June 20, 2007.

At-risk students get support

The board approved $50,000 to expand the Summit Academy Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) Quantum Opportunities Program, which targets students from North Minneapolis who are at risk of dropping out of school due to low academic achievement. The program guides students from ninth grade through high school and prepares them for post-secondary school.

The program brings together community-based organizations, schools, parents, students, teachers and community members around three key areas: academic enrichment, parental involvement and personal growth. The program will expand from 70 to 200 students. Long-term goals include:

· Seventy-five percent of program participants will graduate from high school.

· Sixty percent will be accepted to a post-secondary school.

Case management services help people remain in the community

The board accepted additional grant funds of more than $989,000 from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to divert patients from Anoka Regional Treatment Center to community treatment settings. Hennepin's Human Services and Public Health Department (HSPHD) will add seven staff to provide case management services.

In 2005, 721 people who were mentally ill, chemically dependent or both were committed; some went to state regional treatment centers. The commitments cost Hennepin $2.7 million.

Hennepin staff analyzed case records and believed certain clients would do better in community settings with supports. The county proposed a three-pronged approach:

· Hennepin will have a response team that provides short-term (under 90 days) intensive services to people determined to be most likely to benefit.

The goal is to secure community-based resources to help clients remain in the community with a comprehensive care network.

· Staff will make sure that clients have a stabilization plan for housing, transportation and compliance with ongoing medical needs. In addition,

staff will work with clients to develop crisis plans.

· Hennepin Fourth Judicial District Court will have post-commitment placement. HSPHD staff will arrange post-commitment placement for people

committed due to mental health reasons, helping them transition back to community living with needed supports.

Pilot programs will help juveniles

The board approved $300,000 in funding for two pilot programs - an Educational Advocacy Pilot for parents of delinquent or truant juveniles, and a Return to Success initiative for juveniles returning from out-of-home placement.

Currently there are more than 350 truancy cases among juveniles on probation in the county, and it's estimated that at least half of 4,700 youth on probation are experiencing some type of educational failure.

The Educational Advocacy Pilot Program was developed by Community Corrections to provide community-based services to help parents of kids who are truant or in trouble in school. The program also provides training for probation officers working in schools to develop educational plans for juveniles. The families of an estimated 350 to 500 youth will be involved in receiving services through this program.

Return to Success attempts to break the cycle of repeat out-of-home placements for juvenile offenders ages 14 to 18 who are on probation. The program provides wrap-around reentry services to help kids find jobs, education, housing, medical care and other basic needs, and stay out of trouble with the law.

New auditor/treasurer and director of Taxpayer Services appointed

The board appointed Jill Alverson, formerly Hennepin County Purchasing manager, to the joint position of county treasurer, auditor and director of Taxpayer Services, which oversees elections, the county's service centers, and property tax and tax-forfeited property divisions.

Alverson began working for the county in 1979 in Human Services, and served there until joining Purchasing in 2000.

Patrick O'Connor, who has held this position for 15 years, is retiring from the county July 11.

Plan for three proposed Southwest Transitway stations in Hopkins

Hennepin County plans to develop a station-area plan for three proposed Southwest Transitway stations in Hopkins.

The proposed station locations for either a light rail transit or bus rapid transit option include:

· Shady Oak Road/Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) property

· Downtown Hopkins/Eighth Avenue

· Blake Road/rail authority property

The HCRRA, in partnership with Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park, is conducting a study to evaluate transit alternatives -both light rail and bus - and route alignments to determine a preferred course of action for the Southwest Corridor, which stretches from downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie.

More detailed info can be found at www.hennepin.us.

Some members of the Eden Prairie Noon Rotary and I spent Saturday morning wrecking stuff at the ABC properties.  Armed with crowbars, hammers, screw guns, and of course, a Sawsall, we were able to both remove the cabinets from the kitchens and frustrations from ourselves.  The job was completed with only a few hiccups and no reported injuries.

 

ABC House received grant money to make improvements to the property including new kitchens and flooring.  Volunteer help will help to make the grant money go just a little further.  ABC is a fantastic program that we should all feel proud to have in our community.

We recently completed a maintenance project at our Community Center to repair and replace the ice making equipment in our ice arenas. City Facilities Supervisor Michael Sheggeby shot these photos of the process that we use to paint the new ice in order to get it ready for figure skaters and hockey players. Click photos to enlarge. (They’ll pop to a new browser window so you can look at them while playing the audio interview below.)

Painting the ice white (Main Rink)

Laying out lines (Main Rink); right: Center circle (Olympic Rink)

More lines (Main Rink)

Logo Painting (Main Rink)

Finished Product (Main Rink)

I also interviewed Michael for this week’s podcast. Here’s what he had to say:

Click play to listen (4 min, 32 sec).

Subscribe to the podcast.

Subscribe with iTunes.

Part of my annual performance review each year with the City Council is to establish performance goals for me for the upcoming year. I review the goals with the Council and get their general blessing on them. Setting performance goals is something we do with all of our employees here at the City of Eden Prairie. Here are mine for the upcoming year:

 

 

1.       Budget Leadership - I want to provide overall leadership to the new budget preparation model that Council endorsed earlier this year. Staff is currently working on development of the model in preparation for the 2008-2009 budget process that we will take on in 2007.

 

 

2.       Introduction of the Performances Measures Project - This goal is connected to Goal #1, but sufficiently different to stand on its own. For the past nine months, City staff has been working on development of performance measures to monitor our operational performance. We hope to develop a system of metrics relevant to citizens, Council and staff. My goal is to launch certain aspects this project with our 2007 budget, but to launch the full set of metrics with our 2008-2009 budget.

 

 

3.       Organizational Efficiency - Over the past year the Council has engaged in considerable debate about the feasibility and advisability of establishing a new citizen task force to assist the Council with your review of the proposed City budget. I have listened intently to this discussion. I believe that some Councilmembers believe there are operational and managerial efficiencies that City staff could learn from the private sector that would improve our overall management of the City. I believe this may be true. It's also clear to me that some Councilmembers are concerned that establishing such a task force will diminish their responsibility and control over the most important policy document of the City. I believe this may be true as well. I have given this matter considerable thought and believe that I have developed a compromise that may resolve this issue. I have reviewed models for establishing what might be called a "City Manager's Business Advisory Council". In fact, Dr. Krull has developed something like this for the School District. The Business Advisory Council members are appointed by the City Manager for the purpose of bringing their private experience and expertise into the public sector budget and operational review process. But because they are responsible to the City Manager, the City Council's ability to control and shape the final budget is not diminished. I am working on development of a formal proposal along these lines that I will present to the Council later this year.

 

 

4.       Council Orientation and Planning Session - I don't think that any of us were completely satisfied with the Council's 2006 retreat session. Staff is in the early stages right now of planning the 2007 retreat. I have already had meetings with a planning consultant to help me plan the 2007 retreat. In September, we will take a page from contemporary wedding planners by asking current Councilmembers and Council candidates to "save the date" and commit to attending a well organized and implemented orientation and planning session.

 

 

5.       Connection with City Advisory Commissions - During the upcoming year I want to study and propose a new system of protocol for the City's deployment of citizen advisory commissions. We are fortunate to have intelligent citizens volunteer their time to serve on our citizen advisory commissions. When I attended their meetings this past year I heard one common question from each commission: "What does the Council want us to do?" They know their respective commissions each have a jurisdiction of some kind and that each commission has the discretion to develop their own limited set of goals; however, they were appointed by the Council and want some more direction from the Council about what they ought to be studying and talking about. My sense of this is that the Council could easily provide them too much direction and then you would hear about that. I believe that improving the way in which the Council relates to its advisory commissions is a golden opportunity to really improve the way we implement the City's broader vision and mission in the community.

 

 

6.       Staff Development & Management - 2006/2007 will be a challenging year for the development and management of my senior management team. We will incorporate Rob Reynolds into the senior management team as the new Chief of Police as Rob Reynolds in January 2007. There are other potential retirements looming in the near future. Succession planning for senior managers will be an important task this year. I work very closely with my senior management team on city-wide policy issues, so it is important to build a strong senior management team as new people are added to that group.

 

 

7.       Parks & Recreation Capital Projects - I will have a role in the overall management of the many new capital improvement projects in the Parks & Recreation Department. Depending on weather, contractor and budget, this could be a major new task for me in the upcoming year.

 

 

 

A group of us from the department ran in the Eden Prairie leg of the Minnesota Special Olympics Torch Run today.  The mission of the Law Enforcement Torch Run is to raise funds for the Special Olympics program. Law enforcement staff from  50 states, 10 Canadian provinces and more than 35 nations will carry the “Flame of Hope.”

This international program raises more than $20 million annually to support Special Olympics programs. In Minnesota, more than 600 law enforcement officers representing more than 75 agencies throughout the state participate in the event.  Their efforts raised more than $460,000 for Special Olympics Minnesota in previous years.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is the largest grassroots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle for Special Olympics.   The final leg of the Minnesota Torch Run will conclude tonight when runners carry the flame into the stadium at the 2006 Summer Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

Over the years we have become very good at dealing with every day emergencies and  larger incidents  such as those caused by localized storms, fires or accidents; but what about a catastrophic situation such as a response to a pandemic bird flu event? Over the past year we have been working with other governmental agencies to ensure that we are as prepared as we can be to respond to such an incident.
Yesterday I spent the day at a course presented by Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness designed to update governmental agencies in regard to response to a pandemic bird flu situation. The message of the day was, “Pandemic response is not disaster response as usual.”
A pandemic flu event would tax our city in ways no other emergency or disaster can. A pandemic event differs from ordinary events in that:

• The actual event may last for days or months delaying pure recovery efforts.
• The event impacts everyone at the same time.
• Resources we’re accustom to having are not available.
• Extra federal and state assets will be limited.
• Basic service is all that will be available.

The process of planning, testing plans and making necessary revisions to plans is critical to being successful in this type of an event.   If a pandemic bird flu event were to occur, every branch of our organization would have to perform in a modified capacity just to meet the basic community needs.  I’ll keep you updated periodically on different aspects of our planning efforts.

Last Friday we participated in a drill with Hennepin County Public Health Protection (HCPHP) designed to test different aspects of their mass dispensing plan.  Mass dispensing is the strategy designed to distribute vaccines and medications to all or large portions of the county’s residents in a short time period.  The mass dispensing plan would be activated if HCPHP had to respond to a large-scale public health emergency such as disease outbreaks, acts of bioterrorism, chemical releases or health-endangering natural disasters.

 

The goal for the Eden Prairie dispensing site is to be able to distribute vaccine to 1000 people per/hour, 24 hours a day for 5 days.  As you can imagine, an action of this magnitude will have great impact on many of the City’s service areas.  The situation could be further complicated if the situation that triggered the need for mass dispensing affected the whole county or state.

 

The drill proved that some aspects of the mass dispensing plan worked well while other aspects will be challenging.   We will be meeting with HCPHP later this week to start to amend the plan to better suit our needs.