The Blog from City Hall

Last week was Records Management Week in our organization. It is a week set aside each year in which we clean up our files. We also take the opportunity during this week to clean up our work stations, keyboards, telephones, electronic files and other office equipment.

This year we added a theme to Records Management Week. The theme was “Keep or Toss”. We added the theme to add a little glitz and glamour to what is, ordinarily, a rather dry subject matter. We played up the theme as if it were a schlocky TV game show with activities throughout the week around the general theme of learning (or remembering) what to “keep” in our permanent files and what to “toss” into the garbage or recycling bin.

There are state requirements concerning how long the City must retain almost every piece of information we create or process here at City Center. The requirements vary from zero to forever. Retaining information is something that government must be good at. We’ve got lots of it around here. But, if we did not purge our files of superfluous information occasionally, we’d soon run out of storage space for the information we are required to maintain.

We rely on our City Clerk Kitty Porta to provide us guidance on records retention issues. She is also in charge of the annual Records Management Week too. She does a great job keeping us somewhat organized and within the good graces of the state’s records retention requirements.

Thanks Kitty.

This is Teresa Timmerman of Media Rare, Inc. She has been working with my staff to create a training video for the Customer Focus module of a new City of Eden Prairie-focused training video series called “Eden Prairie On Track“.

This video is just one of many projects being coordinated by our new Training Development Specialist Sheila Krejci. She will be working on this project throughout 2005, which includes not only the video series, but also the development of other training tools for Eden Prairie On Track.

Eden Prairie On Track consists of four modules covering each of the shared expectations introduced last fall as part of our Performance Partnership. Those four modules are:

Module 1: Customer Focus

Module 2: Public Stewardship

Module 3: Teamwork and Flexibility

Module 4: Results Orientation and Initiative

Human Resources will officially kick off this training in 2006. All new employees will complete the series within their first year of hire. Current employees will be encouraged to refresh their skills and build their leadership/mentoring skills by participating in the program.

Eden Prairie On Track represents another way the City’s Human Resources Division is integrating the Performance Partnership into our ongoing operations. We believe this new training system will create, over time, the organizational culture that we need to be successful here.

So if I don’t see you sooner, I’ll see you on the Track .

Each year the Eden Prairie School District’s Community Education Department organizes an annual Partnership Breakfast. The group includes representatives from the School District, City, County, Faith Community, Non-Profit organizations, and interested citizens from around the community to discuss a theme. The breakfast was held this week at Pax Christie Church. It was sponsored by Community Bank.

This year’s theme was “So, How are the Children?” The presentation was facilitated by the School District’s Prevention Coordinator, Mr. Michael Stanefski and Eden Prairie Police Department Sgt. Randy Thompson. They co-facilitated a presentation on the recent State Survey Trends for Eden Prairie Youth.

That’s Mr. Stanefski in the blue shirt and bow tie:

…and that’s Sgt. Thompson in the middle, also in a blue shirt:

The State Survey researched the perceptions of 6th, 9th, and 12th graders in the State on a wide variety of social subjects. The survey asked students if they perceived their family to be “caring”. It asked whether or not students felt that their teachers respected them. It asked how much stress students felt in their lives. It also asked about drug and alcohol usage.

We learned that, compared to their peers in other Minnesota communities, Eden Prairie students participate in the same level of illegal drug use as students in other communities and that they have an average level of “connection to their community” as their peers in other communities, among other things.

Perhaps the most significant thing we learned about Eden Prairie kids is that, according to this survey, they experience feelings of stress more than their peers in other communities. Both stress at home and at school. There was speculation about why this is happening in Eden Prairie, but the data does not provide a clear reason.

Stress on our children carries a price. Some stress is necessary in order to motivate kids to develop discipline that will serve them well in later life. However, if our kids are stressed more than others in Minnesota, we ought to figure out why and we ought to figure out if the stress goes beyond a healthy level. The data from this survey does not provide an answer as to whether or not stress levels are too high; only that they are high compared to stress levels for kids in other Minnesota communities.

What do you think?

That’s my son Turner on the left. He is 17 years old and a high school senior. He will be graduating from high school in about six weeks. Immediately following graduation, Turner will be going to spend three weeks in Lahr, Germany in the home of the kid on the right. His name is Anders Metzger. He stayed in our home for three weeks last fall as part of the German-American Partnership Program. Now it’s almost time for his family to return the favor.

I know that I’ve talked about Turner before, but if you’re a new reader, here it is again. Turner had a heart transplant on April 6, 2000. This week he had a cardiac biopsy to test for any signs of rejection of the transplanted heart.

Donor heart rejection is a problem faced by all heart transplant recipients, if they survive surgery. The human body will reject any foreign substance that penetrates it. For the long term natural survival of our species, this is a good thing. Unfortunately, heart transplant recipients’ bodies often consider the donor heart to be a “foreign substance” and try to eject it from their bodies.

The risk of heart rejection is highest right after transplant surgery. About 1/3 of all heart transplant recipients experience rejection of their new heart during the first year following transplant. Heart transplant recipients take a variety of medications to keep organ rejection in check; including complex (and expensive) drugs to suppress the natural human immune system. Suppressing the immune system decreases the incidence of organ rejection, but it also opens the door to other illnesses getting into the body. There is a delicate equilibrium required for immunosuppression.

Organ rejection is measured by taking cells out of the interior of the heart during the cardiac biopsy. The cells are then examined for defects. There is a measurement scale of organ rejection. 0 is the best. Then there is 1A,1B, 2 Stable, 2 Unstable, 3 Stable, 3 Unstable, 3B Stable, 3B Unstable, and finally on the “bad” end of the scale, 4.

Turner’s rejection test this week yielded a 0 rejection finding. That’s great news for Turner, and for all that love him.

Every year the City holds a recognition banquet to honor the citizens that serve on our various advisory boards, commissions, committees, and task forces. We honor the time, energy and effort that our citizens devote to help make Eden Prairie a great community. In short, we honor their citizenship.

The photo below shows, from left to right, our guest keynote speaker, State Auditor Patricia Anderson; City Councilmember Brad Aho; retiring Heritage Preservation Commission member Elise Kist; and City Councilmember Ron Case. Ms. Kist received a plaque, applause, and the appreciation of her fellow citizens for her service on the HPC.

We also recognize students at this banquet who have participated in our Students on Commissions program. This program places high school students on our advisory boards and commissions as ex officio members. They participate in everything at the meetings, except casting a vote. The program is an opportunity for the City to promote citizenship education in the community, but it’s also an opportunity for us to learn from our young people. This is definitely a win-win program for all involved.

Here’s a photo of this year’s students with City Councilmember Phil Young on the left and State Auditor Patricia Anderson on the right.

The State Auditor gave the night’s keynote address reflecting on her own experience in Eagan as a citizen volunteer on their boards and commissions. A nice evening was had by all.

In December 2002 the City and the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) entered into an agreement that we call the “Final Agreement”. The Final Agreement came about from years of discussion between the City and the MAC over the future development of Flying Cloud Airport.

I think it’s fair to say that the City wanted a lesser degree of development of the airport, while the MAC wanted more. In the end, the City and MAC reached an agreement on such things as the ultimate length of runways; pavement strength of runways; noise mitigation; and the use of vacant MAC-owned land around the airport.

This is an aerial view of Flying Cloud Airport.

The airport runways are clearly visible. The road on the right side of the airport is Highway 212. The road on the north side (top) of the airport is Pioneer Trail. In the upper left hand corner of the photo you can see a baseball diamond that is part of Flying Cloud Fields. The Flying Cloud Fields are managed by the City, but are actually built on MAC-owned land.

The City has a complex relationship with the airport. Flying Cloud Airport is a reliever airport owned and managed by the MAC. There are occasional differences between the City and the MAC over how the airport is managed. For example, the City would like to regulate the times that pilots and mechanics can do certain types of maintenance to their airplanes because those activities are noisy and it disturbs the residents who live near the airport. The City can request such compliance, but cannot force the compliance, as we might be able to in other industrial areas of the City.

I’m sure that the MAC would like the City to slow down residential development around the airport to minimize the number of future residents who might be unhappy with airport operations someday. The City, on the other hand, does not want to prevent property owners and developers from making good land use decisions, especially on land that might otherwise be wonderful residential uses.

So the City opposes the MAC on some issues, but we work with them on others. City staff will be performing a management audit of the Final Agreement this spring and summer. We plan to have it completed by September 1. We will be taking a look at the MAC’s compliance with the agreement’s mutual commitments. We’ll also take a look at the City’s compliance with those same agreements.

Hopefully, we’ll find that the City and the MAC have done everything they each said that they’d do.

I’ll let you know - either way.

April 10- 16,2005 is recognized as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

This is Jim Schedin. Jim is one of the City’s Public Safety Telecommuicators. I snapped this photograph of Jim this morning just after 7:00 a.m. He came into work this morning at around 1:00 a.m. to fill in for a co-worker for the second half of the previous shift. That means he’ll work until 3:00 p.m., or so, this afternoon.

Public safety telecommunicators have a tough job. The public relies on them to answer their 911 telephone calls every minute of every day. Their work cannot go undone. If someone is sick, someone must replace them, sometimes happily and sometimes unhappily, because public safety cannot be compromised.

Telecommunicators are a key link in the public safety system that provides you with peace of mind in Eden Prairie. We rely on their skill, dedication, and professionalism to dispatch the police, fire, and medical services to the right place for the right thing at the right time. I’ve heard my fair share of emergency callers on the 911 system. Listening to callers who are frequently not at their best, and then translating that into a public safety response, is not as easy as it might first sound. Our telecommunicators do it well.

Earlier this week the Mayor and Council issued the following proclamation recognizing National Public Safety Telecommuicators Week. I think it says everything I’m trying to say best.

………………………………………………………………..

PROCLAMATION

City of Eden Prairie
Hennepin County, Minnesota

WHEREAS emergencies can occur at anytime that require police, fire or emergency medical services; and

WHEREAS when an emergency occurs the prompt response of police officers, firefighters and paramedics is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property; and

WHEREAS the safety of our police officers and firefighters is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens who telephone the Eden Prairie police-fire communications center; and

WHEREAS Public Safety Dispatchers are the first and most critical contact our citizens have with emergency services; and

WHEREAS Public Safety Dispatchers are the single vital link for our police officers and firefighters by monitoring their activities by radio, providing them information and insuring their safety; and

WHEREAS Public Safety Dispatchers of the Eden Prairie Police Department have contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals, suppression of fires and treatment of patients; and

WHEREAS each dispatcher has exhibited compassion, understanding and professionalism during the performance of their job in the past year; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of Eden Prairie declares the week of April 11th through 15th, 2005, to be National Telecommunicator�s Week in Eden Prairie, in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep our city and citizens safe.

ADOPTED by the Eden Prairie City Council on this 12th day of April 2005.

Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Mayor
City of Eden Prairie

L-R: Rick Williamson, Stu Fox, Tammy Wilson, Shaun Sullivan, and Ray Olsen. Not pictured: Jim Schlossmacher and George Esbensen

We held our big Annual Employee Recognition Event this morning in the Council Chambers in City Center. Each year the City recognizes employee service and performance with annual awards. We recognize employee years of service in five year increments. The employees pictured above received awards based on their performance over the past year. Here’s who they are and why they were recognized.

Rick Williamson received one of three City Manager Quality Awards for his work in the Street Division of our Public Works Department. Rick’s work in preparing our Street Division equipment deserves recognition. He is a creative problem solver. If we need a part or an improvement to a piece of equipment that is not available for purchase, he’ll make it.

Stu Fox is our Manager of Parks and Natural Resources. He was recognized with the James G. Clark Award for Teamwork. Stu’s job put him in a position to work with all of our City departments in one way or another. He works with the Police on animal control calls. He works with City Planners when they are reviewing new trail easements. He works with Engineers on park construction projects. He is an excellent team member and team leader.

Tammy Wilson is a CPA in our Finance Division. She was recognized with the City Manager Quality Award. She is also in a position where she works closely with employees from many different divisions. She is a smart and hard-working employee. People like working with Tammy. She is the type of person in an organization that people seek out when they need something because she’ll understand what you want and deliver it the way you wanted it.

Shaun Sullivan, aka “Sully”, was probably the easiest choice of the year this year. He was awarded the Carl J. Jullie Award for Excellence in Customer Service. Sully works in our Facilities Division. He is an Engineering Technician. Sully is an upbeat sort of guy. He is personable, but when you need his help with a broken chair; or a burned out light bulb; or a heavy table - he’s The Man. No question about it. He’s got a great “can-do” attitude.

Ray Olsen is an employee in our Streets Division. Ray is also a recipient of the City Manager Quality Award this year. Ray is another guy in the Streets Division that is results oriented problem solver. He makes machines work for him, and not the other way around. He is a skilled painted. His work repainting our dump trucks, for example, usually causes them to sell for around $5,000 more than other dump trucks at the same auction. That’s added value, and that’s good for the City.

Although they weren’t there for the event due to work conflicts, Officer Jim Schlossmacher and Fire Chief George Esbensen were both award winners this year. We give two awards for community service: one for service in Eden Prairie and one for service in an employee’s home community. Officer Schlossmacher was recognized with the Mayor Jean Harris Award for Community Service. Jim received the award for the time and energy he devotes to youth athletics in Roseville. Fire Chief George Esbensen won the same award for the community service and leadership he has provided here in Eden Prairie.

The City Council met in joint session last night with the two Hennepin County Commissioners that represent Eden Prairie at the Hennepin County Commmission. In the photo above the Council is seated at the long table on the right. The County Commissioners are sitting at the small table on the left. At this table, Commissioner Linda Koblick is on the left and Commissioner Randy Johnson in on the right.

There were many issue to discuss. We talked about the new Eden Prairie Library; the new County Services Center here in Eden Prairie; pending state legislation that will create organizational changes at Hennepin County Medical Center; transportation issues in Hennepin County, including Light Rail Transit; the new clean air ordinance enforcement; and possible professional sports stadium(s) in the County.

We held our entire Council evening outside of City Center. We met at the Eden Prairie Library. We had our pre-meeting meal, Council Workshop, and Council meeting at the Library in their large meeting room. This is the Mayor talking to Hennepin County Library Director Amy Ryan and Local Library manager Lois Langer Thompson:

It also happens to be National Library Week this week; April 10-16, 2005. So it was a nice coincidence (I’d love to tell you that we planned it that way) for the City Council and the Hennepin County Commissioners to meet togther in the Eden Prairie Library.

It’s good for the Council and the Commissioners to formally check in with one another at least once a year. We have a good working relationship with Hennepin County, as well as with our Commissioners on the Board.

We want to keep it that way in the future.

The Star-Tribune has good story this morning on page three of their Business Section on an Eden Prairie company that is near and dear to us here at City Center: C.H. Robinson Worldwide.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) is one of the largest third-party logistics companies in North America. They got their start as a fresh produce shipping company in 1905. They move products all over the world by truck, rail, ships, and airplanes. While they still are well known in the food shipping business, they are also developing other specialties in the field of business logistics.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide is near and dear to us for two reasons. They are “near” to us because their corporate headquarters are located right here in Eden Prairie City Center. They are right down the hall from us. We share parking lots, lunch rooms, and a loading dock.

C.H. Robinson is “dear” to us because they have a significant positive financial impact on our city operations. They are a solid employer and taxpayer in Eden Prairie. It might surprise some to know that even though CHRW is located in a publicly-owned building, they still must pay real estate taxes based on the market value of the square footage that they occupy.

But the more financially important link we have with CHRW is their lease for the City Center office space. CHRW pays the City, in rent and common area maintenance charges (utilities, custodial, etc.), over $1,000,000 per year to do business out of their City Center office space. This is important to the City because it goes towards paying off the bonds that the City issued to purchase this building in the 1990’s and towards the cleaning and maintenance of the building into the future.

The City’s relationship with CHRW is an especially good deal for Eden Prairie taxpayers. Without the rental income the City receives from CHRW, the City would have to tax our property taxpayers to pay off the bonds issued to purchase this building. Because CHRW is a reliable City Center tenant, the citizens of Eden Prairie have a very fine City Hall without the tax burden that usually goes with such a public investment.

The Star-Tribune story talks about recent acquisitions that CHRW has made of trucking/shipping companies on the west coast. I’m glad to see that CHRW is growing their business. They are an important part of the business economy here in Eden Prairie. We at City Center wish them well.

There’s been talk in the community and around City Center over the past few weeks about whether or not there is a cougar in or around Eden Prairie. If you haven’t heard this story yet, check it out at this link to the Eden Prairie Sun Current’s story. They did some nice reporting on the issue, including recollecting a couple of verified cougar stories from the south and west metro in the recent past.

We have received reports of the cougar, but have not independently verified it yet with our Animal Control staff. I’ve talked with our Animal Control staff and they tell me they’ve seen no direct evidence of the animal in Eden Prairie yet. We also have yet to take a 911 emergency call about the animal. So far, the calls we’ve received from concerned citizens who heard about the animal or think they saw it, but aren’t exactly sure. I’ve talked to one person, so far, who is 100% certain that he saw a cougar in Eden Prairie. That was back in February.

We have posted a statement about the cougar on the City’s website. You can check there for more information. We’re not ringing alarm bells and aggressively pursuing the animal because we have not accumulated enough information that it is out there and posing a threat to Eden Prairie citizens or their property. When we can verify that threat, we’ll act appropriately and take care of the problem.

This is a view of several of our service counters here at City Center. The City designed its City Center service counters in the early 1990’s at a time when the development of the community was going a full throttle. The counters were designed for a higher level of walk-up traffic than we have in 2005. Add to that the impact of the City’s efforts to push more and more of its services on to the Internet and you’ve got a situation worth taking a look at: Does the City still require the same number and type of service counters staffed by the same number and type of people today that we had ten years ago?

It is important for the City to continually evaluate and reevaluate how it can improve our services for our citizens. During the past four years, the City has made significant improvements to the cost and convenience of our services by making more city services available on the Internet. That trend will continue in the future. As we continue to wrestle with the challenge of determining how and when to move additional city services to the Internet, we must also take a look at how we adjust our employee composition and workplace in response to the changes we are making to the manner in which we provide our services.

We have designed and launched an internal study project that I have titled the �e-Services Response Project�.The purpose of this project will be to examine the impact on our workforce and workplace of providing more of our services on the Internet. The project will review the various services that are currently offered by the City on the Internet and suggest other City services that might also be enhanced by providing citizen access to them on the Internet as well. The project will also include recommendations on how we should adjust the composition of our workforce and the structure of our workplace to take full operational advantage of this trend.

The e-Services Response Project is about improving our cost efficiency and our service effectiveness, but it’s not about job reduction. I do not plan to use the results of this project as “cover” to lay-off any of our current employees. It is possible, however, that this project will lead to changes in the way that City provides services, and that these changes may include employee retraining or changes in daily duties.

A likely outcome of this project is a realization that we may need to restructure our employee work assignments. Efficiencies in one area may free up resources that can be assigned to other service areas or for new intitiatives. If we can achieve a zero net increase in our total employee headcount over the next five years, we will have really accomplished something. We’ve got a pretty good group of employees here that I’d like to keep together. If we can accomplish that through the use of retraining or reeducation, then we’ll do that.

Improving efficiency. Improving effectiveness. Putting the right people in the right jobs. These are the goals of the e-Services Response Project. Look for the delivery of the report in September 2005.

This is the 7901 Building. It is located at the corner of 494 and Flying Cloud Drive. This building is slated to be demolished, perhaps as early as tomorrow. If you drive by the 7901 Building today, you’ll see the last stages of building salvaging going on.

Here’s a guy throwing something off the roof into a dumpster:

He hit the target dumpster all right.

But starting tomorrow, you’ll see a lot more of this kind of equipment working on the building:

The back-hoes are at the site ready to start ripping down the building. When it’s gone, the site will become the home of a new Best Buy retail store. This will be Best Buy’s first retail store in Eden Prairie. It will be a welcome addition to our retail sector. It should be up and fully ready for Christmas shopping later this year.

I’ll see you there.

Sunrise over the intersection of Anderson Lakes Parkway and Highway 169.

Starting later this morning this intersection is going to be the focus of significant construction activity. You’ll see a lot more of this kind of vehicle:

Later this morning a private construction contractor working for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) will remove the traffic signals from this intersection. After the traffic signals are removed, the intersection will allow “right in, right out” access only.

“Right in, right out” access means that if you are east bound on Anderson Lakes Parkway arriving at its intersection with Highway 169, you’ll be able to make a right on to 169 and go south, but you will not be able to make a left on 169 to go north. This situation is scheduled to last until April 11.

After April 11th, the access to 169 from Anderson Lakes Parkway will be closed. This also means that the access to Anderson Lakes Parkway from 169 will also be closed. The closure is expected to last during the entire construction project, which is expected to be completed later this year. Probably November or December.

The objective of the construction project is to make the intersection of Anderson Lakes Parkway and 169 a more conventional freeway access interchange. MnDOT will build a bridge so that Anderson Lakes Parkway will go over 169 into Bloomington. There will be on-ramps and off-ramps to allow more efficient access to and from 169 into Eden Prairie and Bloomington. This project will be similar in nature to the project that MnDOT completed last year at Pioneer Trail and 169. The ramp designs are a little different, but the project itself is similar.

This is a good project for Eden Prairie, but it’s not without sacrifice. The Preserve Village retail center (Jerry’s Foods, et al) will have their road access compromised during the project. They are likely to suffer some economic impacts from the project as drivers take other routes for the balance of this year. Having retail services in that part of our community is important. If you can, help them out and do some shopping there. It would be good for the retail businesses in the area, and good for the community as well.

That’s Minnesota 3rd District Congressman Jim Ramstad at the podium in the Council Chambers here in the Eden Prairie City Council Chambers:

Congressman Ramstad held a Town Meeting in our Council Chambers earlier this week on Tuesday, March 29th. Congressman Ramstad holds several Town Meetings each year and we are usually lucky enough to get one of them here in Eden Prairie. We like to host him in City Center. We filmed the Town Meeting. It will be broadcast in its entirety on EPTV-16 on Tuesday, April 5 and April 12 both at 7 p.m.

I try to attend these Town Meetings whenever possible. Congressman Ramstad is a great advocate for us in Washington DC. He is always open to our viewpoint on issues impacting cities. He has been very helpful in securing transportation dollars for regional highway projects in the west metro. Plus, I just like the guy. He is a moderate. He works effectively with both parties. And he is just a personable and honorable man.

Because Congressman Ramstad embodies the qualities I just described, his Town Meetings do not typically generate much “heat or fire” from average citizens or even from his political opponents. This week’s Town Meeting, however, was an exception. The Council Chambers were packed. I estimate the attendance at about 200. Congressman Ramstad took a number of questions from citizens about the war in Iraq, fuel prices, federal tax cuts, and prescription drugs.

But the hottest questions of the night were concerning Social Security reform. For the first time in our Council Chambers, I heard a group of citizens boo Congressman Ramstad. He didn’t deserve that, but they gave it to him anyway. Congressman Ramstad is a skilled politician. He wasn’t rattled at all. He stayed and fielded questions for the full hour. And he’ll be back, I’m sure.

Congressman Ramstad is an advocate for civility in government - at all levels. It was disappointing for him to get boo’ed in our Council Chambers. I hope that at his next Town Meeting in Eden Prairie that he will be treated with the same respect that he alwasy extends to his audience.