I am a regular reader of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper. Generally, I think the paper does a good job of covering news from across the Twin Cities and throughout the state. Sometimes, however, it seems to me that the paper goes out of its way to pick a fight with suburbia. I am not sure why [...]
Category Archives: Intergovernment
Friday Report for July 2, 2010
July 2, 2010 – 11:59 am
Here’s my Friday Report to the Mayor and City Council for today, July 2, 2010: OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER½Friday Report DATE: July 2, 2010 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Scott H. Neal, City Manager RE: Friday Report for July 2, 2010 1. CenterPoint Energy Rate Increase – In November 2008 CenterPoint Energy filed [...]
Airport Zoning Public Hearing: Not Much Action
May 3, 2010 – 1:04 pm
The Joint Airport Zoning Board (JAZB) for Flying Cloud Airport held a public hearing last Thursday night in the City Council Chambers to hear public comments about the proposed airport zoning ordinance. The JAZB is a multi-jurisdictional commission with membership appointed by the Metropolitan Airports Commission, including members representing the cities of Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, [...]
Welcome to Lakeville
April 30, 2010 – 6:33 am
I snapped these two photos yesterday of the new bridge for Dakota County Road 70 over the northbound lanes of I-35 going through Lakeville. What I want to draw your attention to is the Lakeville logo emblem that is attached to the bridge. It’s not a very common sight to see City emblems or welcome [...]
Southwest Suburban Cable Commission
April 29, 2010 – 12:20 pm
No one, I’m quite sure, is waiting breathlessly to hear about the results of last night’s Southwest Suburban Cable Commission meeting. But, in the interest of keeping Eden Prairie residents and blog readers worldwide informed, here’s what happened. But first a few words about the Southwest Suburban Cable Commission. The Southwest Suburban Cable Commission (SWCC) [...]
Some Good Financial News, For A Change
March 29, 2010 – 3:28 pm
Throughout the fall and early winter of 2008, the City Council and City staff struggled to find the right balance of spending & taxing and services & service reductions for the 2009 City budget. The City’s 2008 General Fund budget was going to take in about $38.3 million in revenues and spend about $37.8 million [...]
How Many Times Do We Have To Tell You?
February 17, 2010 – 3:26 pm
The City and the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) live by an agreement called The Final Agreement that regulates the operations of Flying Cloud Airport. One of the more important provisions of the Final Agreement for the residents of my fair city is the provision that sets out the voluntary noise mitigation program. The program is [...]
Recognizing Successful Progress
February 9, 2010 – 2:10 pm
It’s not uncommon for us to hear some form of the following “observation/allegation” each year when property owners receive their annual property tax statements: “I know a guy who knows a guy who has a house in Woodbury (or Burnsville or Bloomington or Shoreview, etc.) with the exact same valuation as my house here in [...]
Friday Report for January 15, 2010
January 15, 2010 – 9:25 am
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER Friday Report DATE: January 15, 2010 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Scott H. Neal, City Manager RE: Friday Report for January 15, 2010 1. MLC Regional Breakfast Meeting – The annual Municipal Legislative Commission breakfast meeting for west metro cities will be held on Friday, January 22 7:30 – [...]
Sooner Than We Think?
January 14, 2010 – 9:11 am
Who would have thought that when former Gov. Jesse Ventura began his term as our Governor on January 8, 1999, that we would be riding a new light rail train connecting downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America just five years later? OK, five and half years later. The Hiawatha line opened for business on [...]
Off and Running in a New Year
January 6, 2010 – 3:54 pm
The City Council held its annual organizational meeting last night. The annual organizational meeting is typically a quick one, and last night’s meeting was no exception – 35 minutes. The Council uses its organizational meeting to make a number of decisions that are somewhat, but completely, perfunctory. For example, the Council adopts a policy that [...]
Economic Review and Preview
January 5, 2010 – 2:06 pm
I am a member of the Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Club. Each week we gather together on Tuesday mornings for breakfast and a program. This morning’s program was an economist from a Twin Cities investment adviser who gave us his view of what’s in store for the economy in 2010. Next week, we will hear [...]
Un-Unallotment
January 4, 2010 – 11:15 am
Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin gave Governor Tim Pawlenty an unexpected and unappreciated surprise last week when she declared that his decision to unallot budgeted funds from a particular state government food program was unconstitutional. You can read more about the decision in this link from the Star Tribune: Judge Rules Against Pawlenty [...]
Water, water everywhere? No. It’s not.
December 14, 2009 – 3:56 pm
There is an interesting op ed article (at least I think it’s op ed) in today’s Star Tribune business section about water. Read it at this link: Water, water everywhere? Not anymore. The title of the article is a paraphrasing of the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The relevant lines [...]
Friday Report for December 11, 2009
December 11, 2009 – 1:01 pm
For today’s post, here’s my December 11, 2009 Friday Report to the City Council. Enjoy! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER½Friday Report DATE: December 11, 2009 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Scott H. Neal, City Manager RE: Friday Report for December 11, 2009 1. Brief Special Council Meeting – We have a number [...]
