One of the advantages I have as city manager is that I sit in an organizational/community position where I am made aware of many seemingly unrelated issues. I talk to the Police and hear things from their point of view. I talk with the business community and hear things from their point of view. I talk with the Public Works Department and hear things…..you get the picture. Sometimes this puts me in a position where I can put 2 and 2 together and make 4. I had just such an experience yesterday that is worth sharing.
I’ve received citizen concerns over the past year about the reliability of their electrical power. It seems that most of constant concerns were coming from one particular neighborhood. Then, a couple of weeks ago, the Mayor and I met with officials from Kroll Ontrack to hear their concerns about their electrical power service. It was time to put 2 and 2 together and have a meeting with Excel energy.
We had that meeting yesterday. It was cordial and productive. Eden Prairie resident Steve Borsch attended the meeting to put a face on the neighborhood electrical issues. He knows his stuff, and boy is he organized. I’ve linked to a web page that he created to share information about the problem with his neighbors: Power Is Out Again. Check out his site. It’s impressive. Our Economic Development Manager, David Lindahl, and I spoke on behalf of both the neighborhood and Kroll. I got David involved because Kroll is an important business in Eden Prairie and we want to keep them happy, and profitable.
The Xcel folks have a solution for the reliability problems. It’ll cost them a little over $1,000,000, but the project is funded and approved by the Xcel Board of Directors. It’s slated for design this fall and to be completed by May 2008. The proposed solution will benefit both the neighborhood and Kroll.
We will need to keep on top of this one, but it looks like we may have helped solve a community problem yesterday. That’s a good feeling.