FALL 2011 TAX LEVY REDUCED THIRD

YEAR IN A ROW............... 3

THE COMMUNITY SURVEY RESULTS ARE BACK ....... 5

SOLICITOR / PEDDLER ORDINANCE CHANGED .... 7 Minnetrista Messenger

The City of Minnetrista will deliver quality services in a cost effective and innovative manner and provide opportunities for a high quality of life while protecting natural resources and maintaining a rural character.

Woodland Cove

Mayor’s Message

It seems that summer is winding down too quickly. Children are back to school, rou-tines are in place and fall is in the air. The Council will be considering some very im-portant issues over the next couple of months or so. The preliminary 2012 levy was certified to Hennepin County in September. The tax rate remains stable as a result of a decrease of 5.16% in the levy for 2012 from 2011.

Preliminary Plat Approved

T he City Council recently approved the preliminary

plat, dock license, and wetland applications for Woodland Cove, a residential development lo-cated near Highway 7 and Kings Point Road. This development is planned to be phased over a 10 to 15 year period, and includes the re-alignment of County Road 11 and Kings Point Road at State Highway 7 and the re-surfacing

of Kings Point Road. The devel-oper has up to three years from preliminary approval to record the final plat for the first phase. It is anticipated that grading and home construction could start early 2013 for the first phase, which includes 92 homes on the northern portion of the site. If you have any questions about the project, please contact City Hall at (952) 446-1660.

Visit the city’s website for more details.

Continued on page 2

CONTACT INFO

Minnetrista City Hall 7701 County Road 110 W

Minnetrista, MN 55364 Phone: 952.446.1660

Hours: 8:00a—4:30p M—F Email:

Minnetrista@ci.minnetrista.mn.us Website: www.ci.minnetrista.mn.us

Minnetrista City Council

Mayor Cheryl Fischer 952.472.6510 Arlene Donahue 952.472.4456

Anne Hunt 952.472.7034 Mark Vanderlinde 952.446.9341 George Zenanko 952.955.2499

Mayor’s Message (continued from page 1)

Although the preliminary levy has been set, the City Council will now be working on the budget. The economy has not improved much from last year and the council and staff will be developing a lean budget ~ keep-ing some areas the same as in 2011 and implementing cost cut-ting measures in other areas. If we add new services we will per-haps have to eliminate others. It will all be reviewed during our special budget workshops.

The Community Survey results were presented to the City Coun-cil on September 19th by Deci-sion Resources. The survey showed that residents are satis-fied with city services and felt there was value in the services they receive. It noted an overall improvement in the city’s per-formance from the last survey conducted in 2007. The survey has given us information about what service people desire and what services people would be willing to pay for. This will be the baseline for the annual City Council / Staff Retreat and for setting the goals and objectives for next year. It is imperative that we keep spending in check and watch for opportunities to add revenue streams. We want to keep and improve services to our residents while keeping taxes flat.

In keeping with the above, we have been looking into new and efficient ways to do that. Both the Police and Fire Studies will be completed shortly and we will be able to see whether or not any changes could bring about sub-stantial cost savings for the com-munities while keeping the great

services we have and trying to improve them at the same or lower cost.

The Council has adopted a Com-prehensive Plan Amendment, Rezoning, Preliminary Plat, Mul-tiple Dock License and Wetland Review for the Woodland Cove development. These actions place all the parcels under a des-ignation of Mixed Residential and rezones the property to PUD (Planned Unit Development) which give the city a better over-all perspective and allows for the most flexibility. It also makes for a more coordinated look of the project and gives the city a better overall perspective from which to make decisions. The next step is the development of the Master Development Agreement which will set out the terms and condi-tions for final plat approval to make sure that the City’s inter-ests and those of other stake-holders are being taken seriously and agreed upon. Details regard-ing the Woodland Cove proposal can be found on the city’s web-site. If you have any questions, please call Breanne Rothstein, Senior City Planner.

Congratulations to Brian Grimm on his promotion to Finance Di-rector.

Enjoy the turning leaves and the fall holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving as we turn from the summer hiatus and prepare for the fall and winter activities.

As always, contact me with your interests and concerns, Cheryl Fischer Mayor of Minnetrista

City Council Adopts Preliminary Levy

T he Minnetrista City Council and City Staff have been dili-gently working on

the preliminary 2012 levy. City staff worked for several months to come up with their original proposed general fund departmental budgets and Capital Improvement Plans for 2012. The Finance Depart-ment then used these depart-mental documents and Council direction to develop several levy options that were pre-sented to the City Council for analysis, comment, and re-view.

At the conclusion of these budget meetings the City Council adopted a preliminary

levy on September 6th that de-creases the levy by 5%. As such, most residents should see a decrease to the City share of their property taxes on their tax statement for 2012. A graph is shown below detailing out the tax levy trend for the City of Minnetrista for the last several years.

The City Council may either affirm or lower the total levy amount in December with the passage and certification of the final budget and levy. How-ever, state statutes prevent the City Council from making any increases in the total certi-fied levy amount.

Hennepin County is expected to mail preliminary 2012 tax

statements to all residents in November and the Public Comment date for the City will be included in that informa-tion. Over the next few months, the 2012 budget will continue to be discussed at

City Council meetings before its final adoption in December. Feel free to contact City Ad-ministrator, Mike Funk or Fi-nance Director, Brian Grimm at City Hall with any questions or concerns you may have.

Proposed Tax Levy is a 5% Reduction from 2011; Marks the Third Year in a Row for Decreased Levy.

Gross Tax Levy Trend

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

2007 2008 2009 2010 Final 2011 Preliminary 2012

Year

Amou

nt

Millions

Public Comments regarding the City’s budget will be taken on

December 5, 2011 at 7:00pm

during the Regularly scheduled City Council meeting.

Oct 3 City Council Oct 8 Recycle / Clean-up Day 8-noon ** Oct 11 Park Commission Oct 17 City Council Oct 24 Planning Commission Oct 28 Land Use Apps due 4:30pm Nov 6 Daylight Savings Time Ends Nov 7 City Council Nov 8 Park Commission meeting is cancelled Nov 8 School Special Election Day 7am-8pm (Contact your school for voting location) Nov 11 Offices closed – Veterans Day Nov 15 Utility Payments Due by 4:30pm Nov 21 City Council Nov 24 Offices closed – Thanksgiving Nov 26 “Green” week recycling pick-up (holiday delay) Nov 28 Planning Commission Dec 5 City Council Dec 5 Truth in Taxation Hearing Dec 13 Park Commission Dec 22 Land Use Apps due by 4:30pm Dec 23 Offices closed at noon – Christmas Holiday Dec 26 Offices closed – Christmas Holiday Dec 30 Offices closed at noon – New Years Holiday Jan 2 Offices closed – New Years Holiday

Winter Trail Maintenance

Three Rivers Park District has notified the City that it will not be plowing or maintaining the Dakota Rail Trail during the winter months. The City of Min-netrista typically does not plow city-owned trails dur-

ing the winter. Due to budget, personnel and liability issues, the City will also not maintain the Park District’s trail during the winter months. Please use this trail during the winter at your own risk.

SMOKE DETECTORS

October is fire safety month. Remember to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

PARKING

There is no parking on any street between 2am and 6am from November 1st to March 31st. Even if there is no snow on the ground, this ordinance is in effect.

ICE SAFETY

When going out on the ice this winter, please keep in mind these guidelines pro-vided by the MN Depart-ment of Natural Resources.

2” or less— Stay off the ice 4”—Ice fishing on foot 5”—Snowmobile or ATV 8—12”—Car / small pickup 12—15”—Medium truck

HYDRANTS

Take turns with your neighbors to clear snow away from hydrants during the winter. It helps the fire department locate and con-nect to the hydrant more quickly.

ANIMAL WASTE

Please continue to pick up and properly dispose of pet waste throughout the win-ter. Waiting until spring, leaves our waterways at risk as decaying pet waste particles wash into lakes and streams releasing am-monia that kills fish and other aquatic life.

KIDS AND PLOWS

It is very tempting to play on or in the piles of snow that accumulate at the ends of driveways. However, it is very difficult for snow-plow drivers to see chil-dren at play. Please keep children away from these piles so they are not buried by snow or injured.

SIDEWALKS/TRAILS

City Code requires owners of residential property ad-jacent to a sidewalk or trail to remove snow within 24 hours ~ and within 4 hours for commercial property. Sidewalk sand is available to residents who provide their own containers. Please make an appoint-ment by calling City Hall.

Reminders for Fall/Winter

All meetings begin at 7:00pm in the Minnetrista City Council Chambers unless otherwise noted. For updated information and additional details, please visit the City

website at http://www.ci.minnetrista.mn.us.

City Calendar

Minnetrista Community Survey Results

T he Minnetrista City Council re-ceived a presenta-

tion from Bill Morris of Decision Resources, Ltd., on the 2011 Community Survey results at the Sep-tember 19, 2011 City Council meeting. At the meeting, Mr. Mor-ris summarized his pres-entation by saying that significant positive im-provements have been made by City decision-

makers over the past four years on city service rat-ings, perception of taxes, and the overall value of city services provided.

The city conducted a sur-vey in 2007 that mostly focused on housing, fu-ture development, and the Comprehensive Guide Plan due in 2010, and did include some general questions of residents on city services. The 2011

survey focused on how residents value the city services, and to probe residents on a number of issues facing the city – taxes, funding levels, communication between the city and its residents, etc. The summary com-ments by Mr. Morris are based on comparisons of survey results between the 2007 and 2011 sur-veys.

Complete survey results and the PowerPoint pres-entation used by Mr. Morris at the September 19 City Council meeting are available for viewing at the city’s website.

Watch the presentation to the City Council on the Lake Minnetonka Com-munications Commission website at www.lmcc-tv.org. Click on the “Video on Demand” link and go to the City of Minnetrista’s City Coun-cil meeting for September 19, 2011.

The telephone survey was done from July 11 through August 12 this year. Survey takers rep-resented a statistically valid, random sample of city residents, with ap-proximately 400 residents participating, yielding a margin of error of +/- 5% in 95 out of 100 cases.

Minneapolis Avenue looking upstream before the project

Minneapolis Avenue looking upstream after the project

Rain Garden Project Partnership

R esidents of the Saunders Lake

South neighborhood will be getting several rain gardens installed in their neighborhood next year thanks to dedicated funds to the effort from the Minnehaha Creek Water-shed District (MCWD). This project is intended to mimic other rain gar-den projects throughout the metro and will be

used by both MCWD and the City to educate resi-dents about the impor-tance of good storm wa-ter management prac-tices. In addition, it will help capture and treat storm water run off be-fore it reaches Saunders Lake. Contact Erik Ce-darleaf Dahl from MCWD at (952) 471—0590 for more informa-tion about this project.

Ravine Project Complete

T he Minneapolis Avenue ravine re-

pair project was recently completed by the City and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD). Through the re-grading, stabilization, and installation of hard armoring, the project will eliminate the erosion that

had been worsening over the years, and reduce the sediment and pollution entering the lake in this area. This fall, the Min-nesota Conservation Corps will plant live wil-low stakes on the banks for added stabilization.

Notes from Public Works

Public Safety Grant

T he Minnetrista Public Safety Department

has been offered a To-ward Zero Death (TZD) Law Enforcement Grant (formerly called Safe and Sober) from the State of Minnesota for approxi-mately $143,000. This grant money will be di-vided up between partici-pating departments. The grant money will be used to increase traffic safety through additional en-forcement, education, and coordination with the Department of Public Safety media campaigns. Participation in this pro-gram has drastically in-creased traffic safety in our city over the past

several years. For the 2011-2012 grant year, Minnetrista is teaming up with public safety departments in Mound, Orono, West Hennepin, Medina, South Lake, Minnetonka, Deephaven, Rogers and Corcoran. The Minnet-rista Public Safety De-partment is the admin-istrator or lead agency for this grant which runs from October 1, 2011 through Septem-ber 30, 2012. Please contact our public safety department at 952.446.1131 with any questions or concerns you may have.

• Two students were em-ployed again this summer to mow and weed city owned lawns and parks. They also painted and helped on a variety of other projects.

• Seal coating has been completed for this year and was finished under budget.

• Storm Water projects will continue throughout the remainder of the year. Street patching will con-tinue till late fall.

• Grading will be done after a reasonable rain when necessary or upon request. However, please be aware that in most cases grading will not be done through any dust reduction areas unless wash boarding or washouts are a safety con-cern.

• Ditches will be mowed towards the middle of Oc-tober to help keep the snow off the roads and improve road safety.

• Hydrants will be flushed in mid October.

• Trees in the right-of-way will be trimmed or re-moved as time permits. Please let our Public Works Department know the type and location of any signage within the city that is down or has an ob-structed view.

• We would appreciate the effort to keep your recy-cling and trash receptacles

out of the street. When it snows on garbage pickup day, plowing around the containers is a challenge that delays snow removal for others and increases costs for the city.

• Please adopt a hydrant in your neighborhood by shoveling it out to keep it accessible to the fire de-partments. The time you take to do this may save the life of someone you know.

• Winter parking rules are in effect from November 1st until March 31st. Regard-less of whether or not snow is on the ground, parking is NOT permitted on city streets between 2am and 6am.

• Minnetrista City Code prohibits anyone from de-positing snow into any public right of way. As such, you may not blow, shovel or otherwise place snow from driveways, sidewalks or parking lots into the street, road or cul-de-sac.

• In our Snowplow Policy, mail boxes that are hit by a City of Minnetrista plow, will be repaired or re-placed at a cost not to ex-ceed $50.00. Mail boxes that are damaged by the snow itself are the respon-sibility of the homeowner.

Please call the Public Works Department at 952-446-1312 with any questions you may have.

Toys for Tots drop boxes will once again be avail-able at Minnetrista City Hall and at the Public Safety building Novem-ber 1st to December 20th. Donated toys should be brand new and be valued at $10 or more. Toys with chemicals or war/

military themes can not be accepted. Last year, more than 271,000 toys were distributed to com-munity members. If you prefer to give the gift of your time, contact Toys for Tots directly at: Toysfortotstwincities volunteer@gmail.com .

Solicitor Code Changes

The City of Minnetrista has recently adopted a new solicitor ordinance. The new ordinance changes the way that the City processes solicitor permits. A major change is that all solici-tor permits will be proc-essed by the Police De-partment instead of at City Hall as in the past.

Other changes include:

• A new application—it has changed from a one-page application to a four-page appli-cation.

• The Police Depart-ment will conduct a background check on each applicant. The background check will include a MN criminal history check, a warrant check, a drivers li-cense check and veri-fication of the busi-ness.

• It will take approxi-mately five (5) days for the solicitors per-mit to be approved or

denied.

• Solicitors will be is-sued a solicitor li-cense that is clearly marked and contains the solicitor’s photo. They will be required to display the license while engaged in so-licitation activities.

• The application fee has been increased to $50 per applicant to help cover costs asso-ciated with additional processing required.

• The hours of solicita-tion have been changed to 9:00am—7:00pm.

Although background checks are now included in the application proc-ess, residents should continue to use their own judgment when deciding whether or not to enter into a business transaction with tran-sient merchants. Resi-dents who choose to conduct business with transient merchants, do so at their own risk.

This ordinance is in effect regardless of whether or not snow is on the ground and

whether or not the road is posted for winter parking. These rules have been put into

place to help keep citizens and snowplow drivers safe. In addition, please keep all items, including recycling and garbage

containers, off the street to prevent them from getting hit by snow plows.

Election News

T he City of Minnet-rista holds even year elections

only. Accordingly, Min-netrista’s next election will be fall 2012. Election Judges and Election Judge Trainees (16 and 17

year olds) will be able to apply this spring to serve during the 2012 election. Please contact your politi-cal party for caucus infor-mation. Several school districts serving Minnet-rista will be conducting

special elections on Tues-day, November 8, 2011. Voting hours will be 7:00am—8:00pm. For information about the bal-

lot, polling places, absen-tee voting and other spe-cial election questions, please contact your school district directly.

Delano Public Schools jsweet@delano.k12.mn.us 612.708.3949 Mound Westonka Schools borgk@westonka.k12.mn.us 952.491.8007

Waconia Schools nrajanen@waconia.k12.mn.us 952.442.0601 Watertown Schools info@ci.watertown.mn.us 952.955.2681

Winter Parking Rules

No Parking on City Streets 2am-6am November 1st—March 31st

Photo from the City of Rochester

From the City Administrator: Survey Results Are In

“Minnetrista is one of only seven cities in the metro area that attained a 90%+ rating.” - City Administrator, Mike Funk

C ommunity surveys are a quin-tessential civic engagement process that allows the city an

opportunity to reach out to the average citizen and level the playing field, giv-ing everyone has an equal voice. It is important to conduct regular surveys as performance management can only improve with the feedback from the people we serve. Decision Resources, Inc., contacted 400 random households between July 11 and August 12th for a statistically valid random survey pro-jectable to +/- 5% in 95 out of a 100 cases.

From my perspective, the results were very favorable towards the delivery of city services, the confidence residents have in city operations, city staff as seen as doing an excellent job- all areas

that I manage on a daily basis. While there are areas identified in which the city needs to improve, overall I am pleased with the work city staff has done to improve the quality of our community.

In the survey, residents were asked to rate the job performance of city staff. Of those residents that had a contact with city staff in the last year, 85% rated the job performance as positive (excellent or good), while only 12% rated their job performance as negative (fair or poor). That 7:1 ratio of positive to negative ratings placed Minnetrista staff in the top 20% of metro commu-nities.

As a follow-up question, survey re-spondents were asked to rate their last

contact with city staff in four catego-ries – waiting time for city staff to re-spond, ease of reaching a staff member who could help you, courtesy of the staff member, and efficiency of the staff member. In all four dimensions, the positive rating (excellent and good) was at or over 90%, while the negative rating (fair or poor) was at or below 10%. Minnetrista is only one of seven cities in the metro that attained that 90%+ rating for all four dimensions.

Continue to watch the newsletter and the city website as more information will be disseminated. The teamwork of Staff, Mayor and Council will be to utilize this information in order to guide the decision makers, both staff and council, for the future.

This newsletter was published in accordance with the City of Minnetrista’s Publication Policy which may be viewed in its entirety on the City’s website at www.ci.minnetrista.mn.us or during regular business hours at Minnetrista City Hall; 7701 Co. Rd 110 W; Minnetrista, MN 55364.

PRESORT STD U.S. Postage

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Phone: 952-446-1660 Fax: 952-446-1311

Email: minnetrista@ci.minnetrista.mn.us Web Page: www.ci.minnetrista.mn.us

7701 County Road 110W Minnetrista, MN 55364