The Blog from City Hall

It was another interesting week of Guest Bloggers last week. We’ve got writing talent in many different corners of our organization. We are thinking about launching a permanent “grab bag” sort of blog that a variety of employees would post to on a once-in-awhile basis. The two recent weeks of Guest Bloggers was a test to see if we had the writing talent or interest among employees to sustain such a new effort. The conclusion: yes and yes.

Back to business……

The City is still hammering out its proposed budget for 2008-2009. The most difficult decision for the Council is to make a decision on the scope of our municipal operations for next year. It’s actually not one single decision, but a long series of individual decisions about what the City will do and not do in 2008 and 2009. The end result of those decisions is an outcome on taxation.

Right now, the Council has been presented with two versions of the 2008-2009 budget. We call them Version 1.0 and Version 2.0, respectively. Council Member Jon Duckstad is going to ask his fellow Council Members to direct staff to prepare another version of the budget (I’ll bet we call it Version 3.0) at the Council’s meeting tomorrow night. Council Member Duckstad’s proposal would increase spending in 2008 $1,000,000 over its 2007 total. If the Council directs staff to prepare such an option, we’ll do it, of course.

For the moment, here is a comparison of proposed 2008 City property taxes to 2007 City property taxes of a zero increase budget proposal (Version 0.0), Version 1.0 and Version 2.0 from the perspective of each budget’s property tax impact on the Median Single Family Home (valued at $374,800):

Version 0.0 2008 Property Tax Impact: -2.57% ( a decrease of $28.00 for the year)

Version 1.0 2008 Property Tax Impact: +5.37 (an increase of $58.00 for the year)

Version 2.0 2008 Property Tax Impact: +2.08% (an increase of $22.00 for the year)

There is still more City budget discussion left to go, but these seem to be the parameters that are developing. The Council is expected to have additional budget discussion on October 18 and to have a final wrap up of the budget in December.

It’s a tough spot to go last in the rotation of Scott Neal’s City employee guest bloggers, since my peers have all done an exceptional job with their entries over the past few weeks, but I will try to do my best.

I actually got a chance to be Scott’s first-ever guest blogger back in January 2005, just after my beloved Packers lost to the Vikings in the NFL playoffs. In my guest blog offering in 2005, I congratulated the Vikings and their fans on their victory over Green Bay, and then gave my best wishes to all Viking fans in their pursuit of their first Super Bowl title (my Packers have three). It wasn’t to be for the Vikes, as they lost the following week to Philadelphia.

As the Assistant to the City Manager, I get to work on a wide variety of projects, with most of the projects having a city-wide scope to them. I have been with the City since 1992, and started as an intern in Human Resources and worked for ten years in that area, primarily doing staffing and benefits administration. The last five years have been in my current position, so I have seen a lot of change throughout my tenure.

So for this Guest Blog ‘go-around’ I want to share some information on one aspect of my work that is kind of one big project, but a project that has many distinct aspects to it. I am referring to the City’s strategic plan, or the Eden Prairie Promise, as we are calling it now.

This is a project that has evolved over the past few years. It began a few years ago with an initiative from Scott Neal for all departments and divisions to provide “Department Work Plans” that were combined into a one document called the “City Work Plan.” Before Scott’s arrival as City Manager, departments would create their own work plans, but we didn’t look at them together on a city-wide basis, and we didn’t have any accountability for approval and review of those work plans. Department work plans give departments and divisions a chance to describe ongoing work commitments and new work initiatives they are undertaking each year, and then be held responsible for it.

There are formal Operational Reviews held twice per year for each department in front of the City Manager and Department Directors, one early in the year that looks back at the previous year and also looks forward to the upcoming year; and then a second review near the middle of the year as a ‘check-in’ on progress. Accountability for work planned and accomplished is real for division and department managers, but is done in an effective and colloquial manner. City employees are asked to make commitments to sustain and improve all aspects of City operations. We will continue to work on Department and City work plans going forward.

In late 2006, we conducted our first community-wide survey, our first full-fledged survey of residents on all subjects in about 12 years. We also have tried (for this first time this year) to link the Department work plans with the City’s two-year budget cycle, so far with good success.

From all these elements (department work plans, overall city work plan, community survey, two-year budget cycle) coalescing over the past few months and years, the City’s strategic plan has emerged and grown. The strategic plan, now called the Eden Prairie Promise, is our way of beginning to connect our work to the public more strategically.

Our City Vision is “Eden Prairie is a vibrant city characterized by the thoughtful integration of natural beauty and physical development that creates a highly desirable place for its residents and businesses.”

Our City Mission is “Eden Prairie’s city government will foster respect for the past, plan for the future, and deliver high quality public services that contribute to a strong sense of community.”

We have had these Vision and Mission statements for many, many years. They are words that we believe in deeply and adhere to daily as City employees.

Generally, our charge as a local government in the state of Minnesota is fixed by law and statute; but how we accomplish our mission - our strategy - is not fixed. In the emerging Eden Prairie Promise, we have created a set of Key Results to articulate our desire to accomplish our City’s Vision and Mission. In turn, these Key Results have supporting Strategic Objectives and over 30 associated Performance Measures that will help us track our performance and accountability. We intend to demonstrate the value of City services we provide in measurable outcomes. And for evaluating our measures, we are looking to verify and validate our performance by using 3rd party evaluation criteria, not our own evaluation criteria, whenever possible, to document progress.

Both the ongoing department work plans and the emerging Eden Prairie Promise are but two facets of our commitment to the public to do our best and produce true and effective results for the community. We want to look hard at ourselves to make sure we have measures that can truly be used to evaluate and then communicate our performance.

We believe the Eden Prairie Promise will promote strategic thought and action, improve decision-making, and enhance performance by all City staff. By shifting the focus from activities to performance and results, we live up to our City’s Vision and Mission statements by promising to be good stewards of public assets; by promising to give exceptional public service; by promising that we will be innovative and creative in how we provide our high quality services; and by promising to continue to build a community where residents are proud to live, work, and dream.

In a greatly expanding, dynamic and outstanding community, safety will always comes first. The City of Eden Prairie has continued to include the very essential responsibility of keeping its public as well as its staff as safe and sound as possible. Several years ago when I accepted a position within the City of Eden Prairie’s Utility Division, I would become a part of something so essential to running a City which has been rated one of the top communities in the country. Not only do I find great pride in serving my home town community through my work as a utility operator, I also greatly appreciate the opportunity to be a part of various other facets to my job as a public steward. One of which allows me to attempt to positively affect the community in a way which may hopefully save time, loss and cost associated with asset loss, personal injury and god forbid, death! This particular facet I am speaking of is the City of Eden Prairie’s management and employee safety committee.

All successful organizations should include some form of safety program designed to positively affect personal wellbeing. In my particular line of service as a Utility operator, I tell you this truth rings true. Much of us who work for the City, do so in what I call an inherently dangerous atmosphere. Whether it be work for the Fire or Police departments, Utilities, Streets, Fleet service, Parks and Recreation, even administrative staff, we all may potentially be exposed to potentially hazardous conditions at any point in our day. My fellow utility staff and I routinely work near or in roadway traffic, within what are called “confined spaces”, around hazardous machinery and often times, with potentially harmful substances such as chlorine, fluoride, hydrogen sulfide gas and other things which may not necessarily agree with proper human biology. Equally as important to our staffs’ safety, is of course our city’s residents, and visitors’ safety. The public who we serve drives on the roads we pave, walks the trails we cut, uses the facilities we build and drinks the water we provide. To not attempt to create both a safe working environment as well as a safe living environment would be a great injustice to the wonderful city that I call my hometown.

Our city’s Management and Employee Safety Committee is currently comprised of 15 highly qualified and outstanding individuals representing the various areas and departments within our organization. Each of us brings our expertise and insight regarding safety based on our personal area of business. The committee is headed by Wayne Estenson who is in charge of the city’s risk management and does an exquisite job of it. The committee was established in April of 1989 and meets every month according to a planned schedule. Although this meeting is intended to surely be effective and very structured, a casual atmosphere is desired, leaving the forum open for discussion on any topic regarding safety at most any point.

We usually begin by opening with questions or concerns anyone may have regarding workplace and community safety and various related topics, much of which stems from issues outside of our community. We often talk about stories seen in the news. Unfortunately, we routinely see on television and hear on radio horrible stories of trapped miners, wild fires, vehicle accidents, fatal falls, and bridge collapses all too often. We understand the utmost importance of learning from misfortunes which happen elsewhere in order to avoid the same or similar fate here at home. In fact, our organization feels so deeply for neighboring communities misfortunes, we have recently sent one of my fellow staffers south to Rushford Minnesota to assist their community in regaining Water service to its residents. Hats off to Andy Allmann for his selfless act of humanity to our fellow Minnesotans!

We also review recent accidents within our community involving personal injury, auto accidents/incidents, and public property incidents. Fortunately we’ve faired well since I’ve been on board. I can personally state that our safety record is excellent considering our communities size, amount of city assets and number of staff. The safety programs, training and competency of our employees are second to none!

Our program includes safety audits of most of our City facilities and grounds every year. During these audits our committee tours these facilities and grounds such as the community center, water plant, public works office, fire stations, city hall, and liquor stores to name a few. While conducting such audits one of our key assets to the committee is our members who serve in our fire and police departments. Fire officials such as Chuck Shaitberger, Rick Hammershidt, Fred Ziebol and Tim Peltier give vital insight and recommendations regarding fire code and fire safety. Sergeant David Becker of the Eden Prairie Police department has a keen eye for public safety and facility security during our audits as well.

With organizations such as OSHA maintaining a vigilant eye and post 9/11 security threat issues looming, this gives us even more reason to “run a tight ship” so to speak. When auditing facilities including my personal favorite, the water plant, the street/fleets/parks main facility, liquor stores and city hall, others on the committee such as my self give reference to particular potential workplace hazards involving materials, equipment, work practices and ergonomics. All inconsistencies and hazards are immediately noted and dealt with appropriately.

One of our key tools in promoting employee participation with safety, a side from the employee and management safety committee itself, is our safety incentive program. This safety incentive program allows employees to conveniently report a potentially harmful situation. The employee will also conceive a remedy to attempt to avoid accidents, injuries or loss. In return, all safety suggestions will be documented, acted upon to allow for a proper correction and a physical reward is given based on a point value determined by the committee. Once the safety suggestions are submitted, the safety committee comes together four times annually and votes on all submissions during the regular committee meetings.

Safety committee members will vote on each individual submission and award a point value based on the individuals remedy for originality, ease of implementation, how well it might be received by those affected, the number of people potentially affected (both employees and/or residents of EP), related accident history and an overall evaluation of the employees remedy to the potentially unsafe situation. Prizes awarded to participating staffers include eight hours added to his/her personal leave amount (1st place), a sixty dollar gift value (2nd place), a forty dollar gift value (3rd place), and a ten dollar gift value for 4th place. Given the potential savings that this program allows related to time lost by employees and medical expenses due to injury, the safety incentive program can greatly increase safety, employee safety awareness, and organizational effectiveness. Ultimately, this allows for just one person to make a huge difference in a big community, help others stay safe and avoid disaster!

As you see safety really is essential to operating a city effectively, efficiently and economically. Our organization takes outstanding measures to ensure the wellbeing of not only its staff but also its citizens and visitors. People are the key to our existence. We value our customers who include our residents, visitors and staff very much. Without all of these important individuals, we might not be able to stake our claim as one of the nation’s best places to live. Live, Work, Dream…Safely. Eden Prairie!

Jeffrey Campbell
City of Eden Prairie
Utility Division

Hello my name is Steve Pitkanen. If you do not know me already I have a wife (Michelle), 5 children, and 5 grandchildren and have lived in Watertown for the past 20 years. I coached basketball for 29 years, with 4 of those years as the LHS Varsity Girls Head Coach. I have served on the school board, Chair of the Community Ed Advisory Council; Early Childhood Family Education Advisory Council; and as the Girls Booster Basketball Director and Coordinator.

I am the current City of Eden Prairie Water Treatment Plant Supervisor. I have had the privilege to be employed by the city for the past 20-and-a-half years, all in the water treatment plant. I served as the first Union co-chair for the Labor Management Committee and served on the Safety Committee. I have had the opportunity to watch the city grow and expand as well as participate in two plant expansions.

Two of the things that I have heard repeatedly over the years, in person and from letters to the editor, is that

1. the tax dollars were spent on the new water plant or the utility workers or new wells or new towers, etc.; and
2. the city should have done a better job of planning and drilled more wells, so that we could get by with no watering restrictions, surcharges, etc.

I would like to talk about these two items today. I feel there is a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of misunderstanding.

The Utility Division has a Treatment staff and a Field Operations staff. The treatment staff operates and maintains the treatment facility and the wells, and the field staff takes care of the water distribution, sewer collection, and storm water systems. The Utility Division performs many services, with the field operations staff more visible and more involved with our residents on a daily basis than our treatment staff. They install water meters, investigate complaints with water pressure and tastes or odors, clean sewer lines, flush fire hydrants, inspect new construction projects, locate underground water and sewer utilities for people who need to dig into the ground, and unplug storm drains or storm ponds, as well as performing many other services. They are also on call 24/7.

The treatment staff is more unseen. They are responsible for treating the water and providing a good safe product to your home. They monitor the wells and the reservoirs (towers) and do their best to keep the system at a safe level to provide adequate system pressure and fire protection. They are on duty around the clock treating, monitoring, adjusting, and testing the water for you. The Utility Division also works together in many ways to provide other services, such as testing the water system routinely. Together they provide valuable services to the residents. We do not operate using tax dollars or general fund dollars; instead it is an enterprise funded operation. What that means, is that our services are funded from permit fees, water and sewer access fees, and utility bills. We try to budget as close to what our expenses will be to be good stewards of public funds and to be accountable to our residents and community while still trying to allow a little financial flexibility for unplanned emergencies (main breaks, equipment failure, etc.).

As for planning, the City of Eden Prairie does a Comprehensive Plan that includes all historical data and projections for all of the City of Eden Prairie’s operations. The Comprehensive Plan is approved by the City Council, and then submitted to the Metropolitan Council for review. This along with the Water Emergency and Conservation Plan that is submitted to the DNR every 10 years will determine whether we will be allowed to add any additional wells. This plan includes historical data about population and water demands. It also includes information about capital improvements, cooperative agreements with surrounding communities, conservation programs, and projections for the next couple of decades for population and water demands. It takes a lot work by many people to gather the data needed for this report.

The DNR reviews the report and determines from the report if it will grant any requests for additional appropriation permits for wells. They also will receive a recommendation from the Metropolitan Council. The current projections for population exceed the original projections by about 12,000 people, which are addressed in the plan requesting more additional wells. The DNR’s role is to make sure that our aquifers are not over taxed and run dry. They monitor how many wells are in each aquifer and issue appropriation permits which limit how much water each user can withdraw from each well.

(Click the image on the right to enlarge. © 2003 Metropolitan Council.)

We currently have 14 wells in the Prairie du Chein-Jordan aquifer. I know a lot of residents are unhappy with a surcharge fee for excess water use. Did you know that the City also has to pay a summer surcharge in addition to a regular fee? Our regular fee for last year was $7.50 per million gallons or about $23,000.00. The summer surcharge is figured out by subtracting January’s total from each of the peak summer months of June, July, and August, and multiplying that amount of water by $20.00 (for an additional cost of about $18,000.00 dollars).

The DNR also looks to see if the community has a water conservation program, because without one, it is more difficult to get approval of more wells. It is hard to get more wells approved if they are just going to be used to water lawns in the summer. I looked around the state and out of state and found it very interesting that some communities allow even numbered addresses to water 2 days a week, odd addresses 2 days a week, and businesses 2 days a week with no watering by anyone 1 day a week. Most communities have an odd/even watering schedule with a daily no watering time that varies from town to town. I firmly believe if everyone followed the current odd/even schedule and did no watering between 12:00pm and 5:00pm that we would be fine. Unfortunately, not everybody does. When our towers get low or empty, we have no water for fire protection, we experience very low system pressure, and the possibility of contamination to our potable water supply becomes an urgent concern.

When you water, horticulturists recommend watering your lawn deep and infrequently to promote a strong root system. Frequent watering promotes a shallow root system. It is also recommended to water in the early morning or late afternoon when evaporation and wind are usually at their lowest. On a warm sunny day, up to 30% can evaporate just from the sun. Sprinklers that use smaller drops or mist the water often cause the water to evaporate before it reaches the ground. Sprinklers that have big drops and are closer to the ground work best. The City provides a safe, quality product for $1.55 per 1000 gallons, which is one of the lower rates in the metro area, and the water is softened from about 320ppm (17.1 grains per gallon) to about 90ppm (5 grains per gallon). I hope some of this information is helpful.

Here are some web sites to visit for information regarding our water resource:

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/water/index.html; http://water.usgs.gov ;

http://www.metrocouncil.org/environment/Water/index.htm ;

You also can do a Google search for water conservation, aquifers, or just about anything else related to water.

There are probably many people out there who don’t think the City of Eden Prairie is the most exciting place to work. Sure, Police and Fire have their share of adventures, but what could possibly be exciting and thrilling about working in communications? In our small division, consisting of three full-time staff and a handful of part-timers and interns, we spend our days writing news releases, updating the City Web site and creating promotional materials for various events and programs. For the most part, our days are uneventful and life is fairly predictable behind the cubicle walls.

But peppering the ordinary are moments of extraordinary excitement and adventure. Throughout the past 18 months I have done things I never thought I would do and seen things I never imagined I would see. From fighting fires to photographing the President of the United States, my year-and-a-half in Eden Prairie has been one incredible ride!

It all began in the spring of 2006 when I was wrapping up my senior year at the University of Minnesota. A budding young journalist, I was looking forward to graduating and venturing out into the world of small market television news. For the previous seven months I had been interning at KARE 11 news on the morning show. During that time I had the privilege of working with a very inspirational reporter, Rena Sargianiopolous. Rena was working part-time at KARE 11 and full-time at the City of Eden Prairie in its Communications Division. She told me about the monthly television show the City produced called Life in the Prairie and how they were looking for an intern. I was really excited by the chance to produce television stories that would air live on TV. I immediately applied for the position and was hired in April of 2006.

From day one, my internship was off to an interesting start. Right away two of the three full-time employees left the City to pursue other opportunities. Then, my boss was hospitalized and it was down to just me. For three weeks I was the entire City of Eden Prairie Communications Division. Overall it was an incredible challenge and awesome experience where for the first time I was able to explore my full potential.

After proving myself as a communications professional I was hired as an official City employee last September. Since being hired I have had the opportunity to experience some pretty cool things.

Last fall I had an opportunity to serve as the City’s primary media contact during a bomb threat. Our police and fire evacuated the area and I was able to communicate with the local media outlets and set up interviews between reporters and City staff. It was my first experience with crisis communications and I was able to stay calm and composed despite the chaotic situation around me.

Then, this past June I was able to participate in the Women’s Fire Expo, a one-day training event where women have the opportunity to learn that they can become fire fighters. I put on the full gear, oxygen mask and all, crawled into a fire simulation tower and put out an actual fire.

Recently, I had the opportunity to accompany our police officers on their official presidential detail. A few weeks ago President Bush attended a fundraiser in Eden Prairie and I was able to go behind the barricade to photograph our officers and the motorcade as it drove by. I even got a glimpse of the man himself!

It was exactly 18 months ago today that I started my employment here at the City and looking back it’s hard to believe I’ve experienced so much in such a short amount of time. From my trial by fire as an intern to handling crisis communications as a communications professional my work here at the City of Eden Prairie has really been an amazing journey. And if anyone says that working for the City is not exciting, then I would beg to differ!

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.

There aren’t many traditions with this blog. I have been doing it for over four years now. That’s not that long, in the scheme of things. But one thing I do each year is to post my annual First Day of School (FDOS) photo of my kids. Well, it used to be “kids” (plural). Now it’s just “kid”. When I started this job in 2002, my annual FDOS had three kids in it. Now I’m down to one. That’s Ethan on the left. He is the youngest of my three boys. He is going to be a senior in high school this year, so this is my last FDOS.

I like to use the FDOS to draw your attention to the many things that the City of Eden Prairie and the Eden Prairie School District do together to make Eden Prairie a great place to live, work and dream. We cooperate on traffic management to make sure that drivers, cyclists and walkers can get to school safely each year. We have police officers in the schools at Central Middle School and the High School for programming and safety purposes. The City’s Housing and Community Services employees work with the School’s early childhood education staff to insure that eligible families in town have access to pre-school programs. Our Parks & Recreation staff work with the athletics and activities staff at the High School to make sure that city and school facilities are ready to go for falls sports. I talk frequently with the Superintendent on a broad spectrum of issues impacting our respective organizations. And last, but certainly not least, the City Council and the School Board meet twice each year to talk about issues of mutual concern. The fall meeting is scheduled for September 18.

The handsome young man on the left ( the one in the green shirt) is my oldest son Toby. He graduated from college this past May. Today, September 4, he started his first professional job as a technical support engineer at a company in St. Paul called Secure Computing. He has become a fully functioning taxpaying contributing member of society. I’ve done my job. I could not be more proud of him.

Way to go Toby!