Monthly Archives: April 2007

The 2006 Eden Prairie Quality of Life Study: Part I

I’m going to write a five part blog series this week (yes, I know that means writing something everyday) about the 2006 Eden Prairie Quality of Life Study. The 2006 Quality of Life Study, or as I’ll refer to it from here on out as the 2006 QLS, was initiated as part of the City’s [...]

Early Spring in the RTA

The Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area (aka – The RTA) is the City’s newest conservation area. We dedicated it in 2005. It is located in the City’s far southwest corner, located on the bluff above the Minnesota River Valley, right on our border with Chanhassen.

Photographer Todd Nordquist of Eden Prairie and amateur botanist Sean [...]

The New Guy

Today was the first day of work for our new Director of Parks & Recreation, Jay Lotthammer. That’s Jay in the background. He’s seen here meeting with Parks & Natural Resources Manager Stu Fox. Stu was briefing Jay on his 25+ years of park development and management experiences in Eden Prairie. Jay was listening and [...]

Affordable Housing in Eden Prairie

The subject of the City Council’s April 17 workshop was affordable housing. The subject is timely. The City is currently updating its Comprehensive Land Use Guide Plan. The Guide Plan sets the course for how the City Council wants to see the community develop. It’s literally a map of the city where the City Council [...]

Eden Prairie Liquor Store Dedication

We dedicated our Den Road Liquor Store today. The City just completed a substantial remodeling project at the store, which is located on Den Road across the street from Cub Foods. In the photo to the left, L-R, are: Liquor Store Operations Manager Mitch Dean, Mayor Phil Young, Council Member Jon Duckstad, me, Glenn Schwartz [...]

A Challenging Run

The weather forecast for Boston, Massachusetts today is: “Windy with heavy steady rains in the morning with rain showers continuing into the afternoon. High temperature of 48F. Winds ESE 25-40 mph. 1-2 inches of rain expected. Occasional wind gusts of over 50 mph.”, according to Weather.com. While we’re going to enjoy a beautiful spring day [...]

ATK in EP?

In the background of this photo is a slight hill that lies at the intersection of Flying Cloud Drive and Valley View Road. The building to the right is the Ridge at Riley Creek. The building to the left is Real Life condo/co-op building. click on the photo to enlarge it if you want a [...]

Town Hall Meeting Report

The City Council held its Spring 2007 Town Hall Meeting last night at Hennepin Technical College. The meeting started with a very nice meal for City Council and staff with leaders from Hennepin Tech. That’s Mayor Phil Young getting acquainted with College President Kathryn Jeffrey. It’s important for these two leaders to know each other [...]

Town Hall Meeting Tonight

This is a photo taken from the Fall 2006 Town Hall Meeting held at Summit Place Senior Living Center. The City is hosting its Spring 2007 Town Hall Meeting tonight. The Town Hall Meeting will be held at Hennepin Technical College starting at 7pm.
The purpose of our Town Hall Meetings is to provide what we [...]

Looking For Technology Volunteers

The City Council established a new ad hoc task force at its March 20 meeting to study the status of the community’s public and private communications infrastructure. The task force, which is called the Community Technology Task Force, is going to study three key questions as it pertains to this infrastructure:
1. What do we have?
2. [...]

7 Years Out

Seven years ago today I was sitting in the Station 10 surgical waiting room of Abbott Northwestern Hospital with my family waiting to hear from the surgeons that they had successfully completed the transplantation of a new heart into my twelve year old son Turner. I can’t be sure of the time (because everything was [...]

Bob Lambert: The End of an Era

Last Friday marked the end of the Bob Lambert Era in Eden Prairie city government. After 29 years of service to the City of Eden Prairie, Bob retired. His last day of work was March 30, 2007. Bob’s staff organized a very nice farewell event for Bob after work last Friday in the Garden Room [...]

The Airport

Flying Cloud Airport has been an airport in Eden Prairie since the 1940’s. It is now a MAC owned and operated airport. It is a reliever airport for the Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) airport. It is classified as a general aviation airport. There are corporate jets, flying lessons, and other aviation businesses based at Flying [...]

The Ramstad Report

Minnesota 3rd District Congressman Jim Ramstad was our special guest speaker this morning at the Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Club. Congressman Ramstad is a regular guest at our Rotary Club meetings during his Easter Recess from Congress.
He spoke today on a number of topics. It was a general update of what’s happening in DC. He [...]

The Blog(ger) is Back

I know it’s hard to tell, but this is a photo of the sunrise over the Grand Canyon. I paid my first visit to Grand Canyon National Park last week as part of a short spring trip Out West. It was cold and windy the morning I took this photo, but the beauty of the [...]