The Blog from City Hall

There was a very nice article in the Star Tribune on February 5 written by Laurie Blake titled “Eden Prairie may get arts center.” I thought she captured the story well. I was glad that she went into a bit of detail on Roger Sampson. I’m sure people will be interested in the man whose gifts in life created what may be a very nice final gift to our citizens.

Also, thank you Laurie for a nice winter photo of the Sampson building.

Parks & Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer and I met with the City’s Arts & Culture Commission last week to outline the assignment given to them by the City Council: research how to effectively operate a community arts center and make a recommendation back to the Council in 60 days. The commissioners were excited to receive the assignment. They are off and running. They will meet almost weekly between now and the end of March to work on this assignment. They are scheduled to make their final recommendation to the City Council at the April 15 Council meeting.

Hi, my name is Brenda Uting. I am the Administrative Assistant for the Parks and Recreation Department. My number one job is customer service. I’m usually the first point of contact when you call our office or stop by. I receive a variety of phone calls ranging from questions about trees to where is the closest tennis court. Over the years I’ve learned just enough general information to know when to provide a general answer or when to pass the caller onto someone with more information. It’s that variety that keeps my job very interesting.

Tuesday, August 21 is the first day for fall program registration, so I’m receiving many phone calls regarding recreation programs and services. I also answer the ‘live help’ instant messaging communications from people who need some assistance on eConnect, our online registration system. Most of the calls or messages are requests for a family account number and personal identification number. These numbers are used to identify the participant when they register online or via the automated phone system.

I receive a few calls that are beyond my scope of Parks and Recreation. Last week someone wanted to know if I knew of any good resorts in northern Minnesota; and about twice a year I get asked if we have a citywide garage sale (by the way, we don’t - but a lot of neighborhoods hold big sales.)

Occasionally I get the “angry caller”. You might think that would ruin my day, but I know those angry callers are upset with the situation, not with me. I also find that they can be nice folks to talk with once we get to the point of the conversation where we can determine what needs to be done to address their concerns, or at least have their concerns heard.

If you need some assistance in the Parks and Recreation Department, give me a call (952-949-8442) or send me an email (parks@edenprairie.org). I’ll be happy to help you - with all of your questions, concerns, comments.

There are some good things happening at Round Lake Park right now.  Specifically, there are some very good things happening to the environmental health of Round Lake.  You can read a good feature story about Steve McComas, Lake Detective, in today's edition of the Eden Prairie News.

As far as Round Lake is concerned, Mr. McComas has given us valuable information about what we need to do to continue in our efforts to improve the environmental quality of Round Lake.  This issue is a high priority for the City Council, so it's a high priority for me. 

Here's a summary of what Mr. McComas has told us about Round Lake's current condition:

·        Curly leaf populations have been relatively low this year.

·        The water clarity is so far remaining very good.

·        The fish study conducted by the DNR in the lake this year indicates that the fish are starting to grow in size and reduce in numbers.

·        The fecal coliform tests have so far been below detection.

·        The barley straw is in the ponds.  He will be collecting additional water quality samples today in the ponds and lake.

In early July, the City will be doing some catch & release fish trapping in Round Lake to continue its assessment of the health of the wildlife in the lake.  We're looking forward to more positive results and to the continued progress of bringing this lake back into full use as a swimming and recreation lake for Eden Prairie citizens.