City of New Hope

A publication of the city of New Hope, Minnesota e www.ci.new-hope.mn.us

Summer 2012Number 183

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Spring 2012

Some highlights of this issue include:Emerald Ash Borer Program City focuses on replacing treesDuk Duk Daze Summer festival is July 20-22National Night Out It's time to plan your event6113 West BroadwayCity acquires gas station, considers redevelopment proposalIn Business Open to Business provides techni-cal advice, Plymouth Heights is Outstanding BusinessRAVE! Awards Nominate a neighborEmployees of the QuarterMahan and Sylvester honored

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A great place to grow!4401 Xylon Avenue North

New Hope, MN 55428

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Prsrt StdU.S. Postage

PAIDTwin Cities, MNPermit No. 2330

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Current resident or

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This grid of piping will heat the ground so that it doesn't freeze too deeply and crack the concrete floor. A layer of styrofoam will separate these pipes from a 10-mile maze of refrigeration pipes. The concrete floor will be poured on top of those refrigeration pipes.

The city of New Hope held a ground-breaking event on Wednesday,

April 11 to commemorate a renovation project at the New Hope Ice Arena. The project will involve extensive, energy-efficent upgrades to the facil-ity’s infrastructure, significant building maintenance improvements, and en-hancements to the arena’s public spaces. Contractors had actually begun work on the project several weeks earlier, in mid-March, and by the time the ground-breaking occurred, the ice, boards and old cooling equipment had already been removed from the arena’s north rink. The improvement project will ensure that the arena is structurally sound, energy-efficient, welcoming, and a financially viable part of the commu-nity for at least the next 30 years. Work on the $4.8 million project is scheduled to be completed by the end of July and the New Hope Ice Arena will enter “A New Ice Age,” at a ribbon-cutting celebration tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 9.

New Hope Ice Arena renovations underway

Infrastructure UpgradesThe most significant improvements at the New Hope Ice Arena will be under the ice and behind closed doors. After 37 years, the cooling and dehumidifica-tion equipment for the arena’s north rink had outlived its expected life, and was really showing its age. The city began working with Stevens Engineers in early 2010 to plan im-provements at the arena that were both as economical as possible and energy efficient. In fall 2010, Stevens brought McKinstry, an energy services consulting firm into the conversation. McKinstry had considerable success leveraging future energy savings to help pay for improvements at other ice arenas, both in the United States and Canada. The City Council approved nearly $4.2 million in infrastructure and maintenance improvements at the ice arena in September 2011.The city knew that it needed to re-place the old, outdated Freon-based

The third annual New Hope City Day

is on Saturday, June 23, from 9 a.m. to noon. The event is a great op-portunity for residents to have some fun and get a little better idea of what’s going on at City Hall. This year’s event has been moved a month earlier in the summer, so hopefully the weather will be a bit cooler. And, many City Day activities will be moved out into Xylon Avenue and adjacent to the street, closer to all the activ-ity across the street at the New Hope Community Farmers Market.Members of city staff will be on hand at City Day to provide information about

City Day is great way to learn more about city activities

city programs, services and current projects and answer questions. Several City Council members will also avail-able for some informal conversation.

Candidate filing period

The mayor’s seat and two city council seats on the New Hope City Coun-

cil will be on the general election ballot on November 6. A local primary will be held on August 14 to narrow the field if more than two candidates file for mayor or more than four individuals file for the council member seats. The mayor and council members serve four year terms.An individual may run for City Coun-cil in New Hope if they are an eligible voter, will be at least 21 years old on January 1, 2013, and have maintained a residence in the city for 30 days before the general election. Candidates may file for office with the New Hope city clerk from 8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22 until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5. The city clerk’s office is at New Hope City Hall, 4401 Xylon Ave N. The filing fee is $5. Candi-dates who will be absent from the state during the filing period may arrange to file prior to their departure.

In March, the New Hope Economic Development Authority (EDA) ap-

proved the terms of a purchase agree-ment for the 14-acre Kmart property at 4300 Xylon Ave. N and the Wells Fargo Bank drive-through at 4200 Xylon Ave. N. The EDA agreed to pay Gator New Hope, LLC $4.5 million for the Kmart property, $125,000 for the Wells Fargo property, and up to $10,000 for related incidental expenses.New Hope has conducted several stud-ies to plan for redevelopment of New Hope’s City Center area, near Win-netka and 42nd avenues, over the last 10 years. The city has long understood that acquisition of the Kmart property is a pivotal component to redevelop-ment of the area. At open houses in early 2011 held to discuss the Vision for redevelopment of City Center, several

New Hope agrees to purchase Kmart siteresidents and business people encour-aged the city to make redevelopment of Kmart its number one priority. Representatives of Gator Properties first approached city staff in June 2011 to ask the city about its potential inter-est in acquiring the Kmart property. The city began discussions with Gator, but the uncertain status of Kmart’s New Hope store and its lease arrange-ments complicated the negotiations. In December 2011, Sears Holdings, the parent company of Kmart, announced that it would be closing the New Hope Kmart and did not renew the lease for the property.New Hope received appraisals for 4200 and 4300 Xylon Ave. N in July 2011. City staff was able to negotiate a pur-chase price substantially below those

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The K-9 team demonstration always draws a crowd at City Day.

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City of New Hope, Minnesota e Spring 2012

Kathi Hemken Mayor763-537-7990 khemken@ci.new-hope.mn.us

John Elder Council Member763-442-0999 jelder@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Andy HoffeCouncil Member763-537-2647ahoffe@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Eric LammleCouncil Member763-544-0912elammle@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Frequently Called City NumbersGeneral Telephone ........... 763-531-5100Inspections ...........................763-531-5127building permits, complaintsParks and Recreation ........763-531-5151Public Works .......................763-592-6777sewer backup, snowplowing, forestryUtility Billing ........................763-592-6760Police (non-emergency) ....763-531-5170TTY (through MN Relay) ...651-602-9005

Kirk McDonaldCity Manager763-531-5112kmcdonald@ci.new-hope.mn.us

City Hall Address 4401 Xylon Avenue NorthNew Hope, MN 55428City Websitewww.ci.new-hope.mn.usTell us what you think...24-Hour Opinion Line .... 763-531-5102E-mail .......cityhall@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Daniel StaunerCouncil Member763-536-1415dstauner@ci.new-hope.mn.us

City challenges local photographers to put their vision of New Hope In Focus

Community members chose Journey, by 14-year-old McKenzie Kohn, as their favorite photograph and the People's Choice Award winner in 2011.

There are a lot of things in

New Hope that make it a great community to live in…its people, its natural beauty, and its special places. The city began the New Hope In Focus photo contest in 2010 to give local photographers an opportunity to showcase their skills and share some of the things about New Hope that catch their eye and their camera’s lens. Participation in the contest has grown over the first couple years – from 48 photographs by 19 photographers in 2010 to 67 photos by 28 residents last year. The deadline for the third annual In Focus photo contest is August 13.Photographs may be entered in one of three main categories: Nature, People, and Places. A volunteer panel of judges will evaluate each entry and award a $50 first prize in each of those categories. To encourage young photographers under 16 years of age, there is also a special Youth category with a $25 first prize. Entries will be judged on subject matter, composition, clarity, lighting, effective use of depth of field, drama/artistry, degree of difficulty, technical excellence, and overall impact.

In addition, residents will have a chance to choose their favorite photo in a special People’s Choice category. Community members can cast a vote online between Friday, August 17 and Monday, September 17 by following a link from the city’s website. Only one vote per person, please. The entries will also be part of an exhibit that will travel from City Hall, to the New Hope Community Farmers Market, New Hope Village Golf Course clubhouse, YMCA and Universal Color during the voting period.

Late last year, the New Hope City Council named Center for Energy

and Environment (CEE) as the official home loan facilitator for New Hope residents effective January 1, 2012. Prior to this year, although it was not New Hope’s official provider, CEE had helped New Hope residents obtain 86 home loans totaling $741,445. By changing to CEE, which will not charge New Hope for its services, the city will save $5,000 in 2012 compared to what it paid its previous service provider last year. Two home improvement loan programs are currently available to New Hope residents through CEE: Minnesota Fix-Up Fund Loan Program and CEE Home Energy Loan Program. The Minnesota Fix-Up Fund is a state-wide program that offers loans at below market interest rates to homeowners. The Fix-Up Fund was established to improve the basic livability and/or en-ergy efficiency of a borrower’s home. Eligible projects include interior or exterior maintenance or remodeling improvements. Loans of up to $35,000 with a 5.99% interest rate and a 20 year term are available to qualified appli-cants with a gross annual household income of $96,500 or less. Borrowers must own the property or be purchas-ing it through a mortgage or contract for deed, and must close on the loan before beginning any projects. For

CEE can help you get a home improvement loanmore information about this loan pro-gram contact Brenda Yaritz at 612-335-5891 or byaritz@mncee.org.CEE and the Minnesota Division of Energy Resources offer low interest home energy loans for homeowners to make qualified energy improvements in the homes. Eligible projects include high-efficiency heating and central air conditioning systems, light fixtures, energy efficient windows and doors, attic or wall insulation, attic air seal-ing, and high efficiency water heaters. Loans of up to $10,000 are available at 2.99% interest for a term of 12 to 36 months (windows are not eligible). Loans of up to $20,000 are available at 4.99% interest for a term of 37 to 120 months (windows are eligible). There is no maximum income limit for this program. For more information about this loan program contact Jim Hasnik at 612-335-5885 or jhasnik@mncee.orgCenter for Energy and Environment also administers MHFA Rental Reha-bilitation Loan Program for residen-tial rental property owners, and CEE Commercial Energy Efficiency Loan Program, One-Stop Efficiency Shop Lighting Retrofits, Energy Savings Fund for Nonprofits, and Energy Grant for Nonprofits for businesses and non-profits. For an application or more in-formation about any of CEE’s programs visit mncee.org or call 612-335-5858.

New Hope’s Emerald Ash Borer program will continue in 2012.

This year, the program will continue to focus on removing ash trees from pub-lic land and is putting renewed empha-sis on replacing ash trees in city parks.The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetle is an invasive, wood boring tree pest that has spread unabated through 15 states and several Canadian provinces and killed millions of ash trees. EAB first appeared in Ramsey and Houston counties in Minnesota in May 2009. Rather than waiting until the problem arrived on our doorsteps, in 2010 the New Hope City Council adopted a plan to work proactively to address Emer-ald Ash Borer in New Hope. The plan will help mitigate the impact of EAB in New Hope and spread the costs out over a period of about 10 to 15 years.Since 2010, the city has been budgeting $100,000 each year to systematically deal with the 1000s of ash trees in New Hope’s parks, and on boulevards and other public lands. To date, the emphasis has been on removing ash trees from city parks and in the bou-levard, beginning with those in poor condition. The city removed 234 ash trees in 2010 and an additional 150 trees in 2011. So far, New Hope has only had enough funding to replace about half of the public ash trees that have been removed.This year, New Hope will receive a $25,000 Planting for Diversity match-ing grant from the Minnesota Depart-ment of Natural Resources. The grant program provides funds to replace ash trees on public lands with a more diverse and resilient mix of trees from the DNR’s Approved Native Trees List. The city of New Hope will pro-vide $25,000 in matching funds in 2012 to replace ash trees, primarily in city parks.

City begins replacing more of the public ash trees removed to prevent the spread of EAB

In April, the City Council also ap-proved a staff recommendation to designate $25,000 of the $100,000 bud-geted for the Emerald Ash Borer pro-gram in 2013 and beyond for public ash tree replacement.Again in 2012, as part of New Hope’s EAB program, residents may contact the city to request that a boulevard ash tree in front of their home be removed. New Hope will pay 100 percent of the cost for the city contractor to remove the tree. New Hope has very limited funding available this year to provide some replacement trees to residents who volunteer (or who previously vol-unteered) to have their boulevard ash tree removed. Replacement trees will be offered through the city contractor on a first-come, first-served basis and must be chosen from a limited number of preferred species. Residents are not

City forester Shawn Markham marks an ash tree in a city park for removal.

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Plan ahead for National Night Out

Chief Tim Fournier talked with a resident about a concern at a National Night Out block party last year.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Spring 2012

This year’s Na-tional Night

Out, Nite to Unite! event will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tues-day, August 7. New Hope will once again be partici-pating in both the National Night Out program sponsored nationally by the National Associa-tion of Town Watch and Nite to Unite, a state program sponsored by the Minnesota Crime Prevention Asso-ciation. Although the event is still a couple months away, it’s not too soon to sign up your neighborhood today!Whatever you call it, the point is to spend some time outside with your neighbors and to renew and strengthen your neighborhood’s commitment to work together with the Police Depart-ment to prevent crime and improve public safety in New Hope. While the traditional “light on” and front porch vigils remain a part of the National Night Out tradition, activities have ex-panded considerably over the years to include block parties, cookouts, visits from police, neighborhood walks, con-tests and much more. Last year about 4,800 people partici-pated in 95 registered National Night Out block parties throughout New Hope. Participants also collected food and school supplies that were delivered to N.E.A.R. and local schools for distri-bution to local families. Neighborhood organizers can register now for this year’s National Night Out celebration. While registration will continue through August 3, popular neighborhood visitors are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. And, their schedules fill up quickly. Visitors include McGruff, West Metro firefight-ers, police K-9, a North ambulance,

or a City Council member. Another reason to register early is that groups that turn in a completed registration form by July 1 are eligible to receive a Picnic Pack which includes paper plates, forks, and cups for the num-ber of people they expect to attend. Neighborhoods that are planning to block off their street for a block party on National Night Out need to submit a request form to the Police Depart-ment no later than July 24 to reserve barricades. If you would like suggestions for some new activities to include in your neighborhood’s celebration call crime prevention officer Nichole Korth at 763-531-5140. She has loads of fun, imaginative ideas that other groups have enjoyed at their festivities over the years.Registration packets have been mailed or e-mailed to those who organized National Night Out events last year. Others may get a registration form or additional information about National Night Out, New Hope’s Nite to Unite by visiting the city’s website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/nno, or contacting Officer Korth at 763-531-5140 or nkorth@ci.new-hope.mn.us.

Duk Duk Daze, New Hope’s annual community celebration, will be

Friday, July 20 through Sunday, July 22. Most of the events will be in North-wood Park, 38th and Boone avenues. The festival will include a variety of fun activities for the entire family, many of which are free! Fair hours are Friday, July 20, 5 to 11:30 p.m.; Saturday, July 21, 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; and Sunday, July 22, 12 to 5 p.m.This year, as a special treat, the daz-zling Duk Duk Daze fireworks display will take to the skies above Northwood Park on both Friday and Saturday nights at dusk (about 10 p.m.).There will be so much to do at Duk Duk Daze, that once again Boone Av-enue will be closed and activities will flood out into the street. Boone Av-enue will be closed to through traffic between 36th and 42nd avenues from 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 19, to 6:30 a.m. on Monday, July 23. Visit the city’s website for detour details.Duk Duk Daze 2012 will feature the return of many popular favorites in-cluding carnival games and rides, a delectable assortment of fair foods, Lion’s Bingo, the Timberwolves Basketball Shootout, a pizza eating contest and a little libation at the beer tent for adults. The annual Kiddie Parade, for kids ages 0-12, is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday (registration begins at 9:30 a.m.) This year’s theme is “Fan-tasy Storybook Characters.”Sports lovers can participate in tournaments for men’s softball, ten-nis, or bean bag toss. The champi-onship games for the tournaments are scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The tennis tournament has singles, doubles and mixed-doubles catego-ries for players 12 and older. Reg-ister by phone with a major credit card by calling 763-531-5151.

Duk Duk Daze summer festival will be July 20-22

As always, Duk Duk Daze will feature great entertainment. Friday’s headliner will be the 70s-90s dance party music of Honey Wagon, beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday’s feature act will be the clas-sic rock music of Rook at 7 p.m. Other entertainment on Saturday includes magician Craig Carlson at 11 a.m. and Showtime Chorus at 3 p.m.Other fun activities include a classic and custom Car Show at 1 p.m. on Sun-day, and Hammer-Schlagen (or Striking Hammer), an adaptation of a popular German tavern game that dates from the first Octoberfest in 1810.Duk Duk Daze is sponsored by the New Hope Lions Club in cooperation with the city of New Hope. Proceeds from the event are donated back into the com-munity. For a complete schedule of 2012 Duk Duk Daze activities and additional details, visit www.dukdukdaze.com.

The Hope Grows Community Gar-den is an idea that first took root

last summer. Hope Grows is a commu-nity based group run by volunteers with limited assistance from the city of New Hope. A few plots are still available at the garden for the 2012 growing season. A community garden provides resi-dents who don’t have access to garden space where they live with an opportu-nity to grow fresh produce. The garden tends to attract people of every age and background and becomes a community gathering space and place of commu-nity pride.The Hope Grows garden is located at Emergency Foodshelf Network (EFN), 8501 54th Avenue North. EFN has gen-erously donated the use of its land for the project. Garden plots can be rented by local gardeners who want to grow fresh vegetables and fruits for their families, or by area groups interested in tending a communal plot and do-nating the produce to EFN or another local non-profit that will distribute it to those in need.

Put your green thumb to work at Hope GrowsEach plot measures about 9 by 14 feet. Plot requests will be honored on a first-come, first-served basis. A plot is $20 for the season (plus a $30 deposit). For more information about the Hope Grows Community Garden or an ap-plication form, visit www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/hopegrows or call Eric Weiss at 763-531-5196.

In April, the New Hope City Coun-cil approved changes to the city’s

precinct boundaries. The changes are part of the mandated redistricting process which occurs every 10 years. The approved changes will reduce the number of precincts in New Hope from 11 to eight, eliminate di-rectional elements in precinct titles (e.g. 3N,6E), and make the number of eligible voters in each precinct rela-tively similar while aligning precinct boundaries with distinct physical features (such as roads). Precinct boundaries were also modified to ac-commodate changes made to Legisla-tive District 45B. By decreasing the number of pre-cincts, New Hope will save money by reducing voting equipment and main-tenance agreement costs, reducing

New Hope Council approves precinct changesballot printing costs, and through other savings related to having fewer polling locations.New Hope residents should be aware that, due to the changes in precinct boundaries, they may no longer live in the same precinct or vote at the same polling location as they did in previous elections. Every property in New Hope will receive a postcard in early July, prior to the primary elec-tion on August 14, to notify them of their current polling place. The general election will be Tuesday, No-vember 6.For more information about the new precinct boundaries and polling places, view the revised precinct map on the city’s website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/vote, or call City Hall at 763-531-5100.Duk Duk Daze features several tournaments includ-

ing a tennis tournament for ages 14 and up.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Spring 2012

Popular farmers market returns to New Hope on Saturdays

There's a virtual cornucopia of fresh vegetables and fruit at the New Hope farmers market. Andrew Avila, age 13, captured this photograph of blueberries at the market.

New Hope acquired the tax forfeited property at 6113 West Broadway for well below market value. A developer wants to construct a 68-unit apartment building at that location.

The southeast cor-ner of 62nd and

West Broadway av-enues has long been identified as a site for redevelopment in the city’s Comprehensive Plan. To move the re-development process forward, the city began acquiring blighted properties in the area a decade ago with the purchase of three apartment buildings. Those buildings have since been razed and the land sits vacant. Previous redevelop-ment plans included mixed use retail and townhomes, but the developer was unable to secure financing. In August 2011, the New Hope City Council authorized city staff to pur-chase the tax forfeited property at 6113 West Broadway - the site of a former gas station and convenience store that had been closed for a number of years. With the purchase of the gas station site the city now has control of 1.39 contiguous acres in the area targeted for redevelopment.

Site Acquisition and DemolitionLast summer, the city worked with the county to purchase the corner gas sta-tion site. The city agreed to complete any environmental cleanup required and work towards redevelopment of the site in exchange for a negotiated sale price of $10,238, considerably less than the current market value. The city closed on the property in January.The City Council plans to select a con-tractor to demolish the old gas station structure and remove the fuel tanks in early summer. The city engineer’s conservative estimate of the total cost of demolition is approximately $95,000. Previous soil cleanup and tests show the site is likely clean of contamination, but, if contamination is discovered, the city will be eligible for a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency that would cover 90 percent of the cleanup costs. The demolition and any cleanup required will occur sometime this summer.

City acquires former gas station, considers redevelopment proposal

Proposed RedevelopmentIn early 2012, Ron Clark Construc-tion and Design Inc, an Edina based housing development company, began preliminary discussions with city staff, the Planning Commission, and City Council about a multi-family housing development project. After a number of plan revisions addressing concerns expressed by the city, Ron Clark Con-struction submitted a proposal to construct a 68-unit family-oriented apartment building. The proposal in-cludes the property adjacent to the city-owned lots immediately to the west for a total site 1.67 acres in size. Ron Clark Construction is proposing a four-story apartment building con-structed of high-quality materials with an estimated construction cost of $12 million. The modern apartments would include high ceilings, washer and dryer in each unit, and a private deck. The building would offer underground and surface parking, a community room, fitness center, outdoor recreation area, and on-site management. The proposal calls for a mix of one to three bedroom units ranging in size from 750 to 1,300 square feet. The current site plan would place the building close to the street, providing a buffer between the apartment building and the single-family residential homes to the south. In addition, a six-foot

County to complete home appraisals

Each year the Hennepin County As-sessor’s Office reviews one-fifth of

the homes in New Hope to determine their market value. This year all houses between 54th Avenue and the city's northern border will be reviewed.County appraisers will begin going door-to-door doing exterior inspec-tions in June or July. If an interior inspection is necessary, the appraiser will leave a door tag or send a letter requesting that the homeowner call the Assessor’s Office to schedule an appointment.

All appraisers carry a Hennepin County photo identification card. Do not let anyone into your home with-out proper identification. If you have any questions about the inspection or the inspection of real estate for property tax purposes, contact the Hennepin County appraiser at 612-348-3046.To view an interactive map with in-formation about property values in Hennepin County, visit http://gis.co.hennepin.mn.us/HCPropertyMap/Locator.aspx

The New Hope Community Farmers Market will return for its fourth

season on June 16. The market is a great place for area residents to get healthy, farm-fresh vegetables and fruits. It’s also a good place to browse the handi-work of local artists and crafters, dis-cover some delightful locally prepared foods, listen to some home-spun enter-tainment, and learn about a variety of community groups.Market day is every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through September 1. The market will open an hour later, at 9 a.m., from September 8 to October 13, when it closes for the season. The mar-ket is held in the vacant lot across Xylon Avenue from City Hall (the former Kmart site at 4300 Xylon).The market features about 50 vendors. All of the farmers and most of the artists and crafters have returned from last year. In addition to fruits and veggies, some of the pop-ular products at the market include:v Both cut and bedding flow-ers and plantsv Pork, chicken and eggsv Honey, jam, jelly and spicesv Prepared foods from egg rolls, to gyros, to frittatasv And, new products includ-ing mini donuts, baked goods and breads

PRISM Express will again be offer-ing free rides to the market for seniors from New Hope and surrounding com-munities. Call PRISM’s reservation line, 763-529-1252, during the week prior to market day to arrange a ride.The New Hope Community Farmers Market is a 501c4 non-profit corpora-tion led by a volunteer board of direc-tors from the community with support from the city of New Hope. For more information about the market, visit its website at www.newhopemarket.org, become a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/newhopefarmersmarket, or get on the mailing list for the mar-ket enewsletter by sending an email to info@newhopemarket.org.

The New Hope City Council pre-sented Good Citizenship Awards

this spring to Michael and Allison Isen-berg, Rob and Vicky Wavinak , Tawn Hanson, Joann Kloos and Art Field in recognition of their volunteer work in New Hope. The Council introduced the award program last September because it understood that the strength of our community is dependent upon a strong network of citizens who devote time and effort to improve the quality of life by helping others.At its February 27 meeting, the City Council recognized the Isenbergs for their efforts in forming the first Neigh-borhood Watch group at Winnetka Green, for Michael’s service on the Winnetka Green Homeowners Associ-ation, and for the annual Toy Fest they hold – which collects about 200 to 300 items for Toys for Tots each December.On March 26, the Council recognized the Wavinaks for their work mentoring teenagers for Parenting with Purpose, volunteering at Loaves and Fishes and Feed My Starving Children, and serv-ing as Neighborhood Watch block captains. Rob also delivers Meals on Wheels and Vicky is a 15-year member of the New Hope Women of Today along with other volunteer activities.On May 14, the Council recognized Tawn Hanson for her volunteer work with the New Hope Women of Today and Habitat for Humanity, as a co-leader of a Girl Scout troop, fundrais-ing for Susan G. Komen, participating in an Adopt-A-Highway trash cleanup,

Seven volunteers receive Good Citizenship Awardand a long list of other volunteer ser-vice. Joann Kloos was honored for volunteering at Ambassador Good Sa-maritan nursing home for 27 years and serving on its advisory board for more than 10 years. Art Field was lauded for the countless volunteer hours he has worked for the New Hope Lions, the Duk Duk Daze Festival, the New Hope Community Farmers Market board, and at Safety Camp graduation dinners.Winners of the New Hope Good Citizenship Award receive a certificate and an “I Love New Hope” lapel pin. Anyone who volunteers in New Hope is eligible to be considered for a Good Citizenship Award. For more informa-tion about the program or a nomina-tion form, visit the city’s website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us, or call the city clerk at 763-531-5117.

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2011 water quality report online

The Minnesota Department of Health requires water suppliers, including the city of New Hope, to prepare annual water Consumer Confidence Reports to report the water quality for the previous year. New Hope's 2011 report has been posted on the city's website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us. A copy is also available for review at New Hope City Hall, 4401 Xylon Ave. N.

In Business eSpring 2012

With the help of a matching grant from Hennepin County, the

cities of New Hope and Golden Val-ley contracted with the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Develop-ers (MCCD) earlier this year to provide one-on-one business consultation to entrepreneurs who live, own a busi-ness, or are planning for a business in one of our communities. Open office hours begin on June 12 for the New Hope/Golden Valley Open To Business program. The services are free to local business owners.Open To Business advisors can help in several areas:Business Plan Assistance – Do I need a business plan? If so, what do I include in it?Financial Management – What are cash flow projections and why are they important?

Open To Business provides savvy advice to small businessesBookkeeping Set-up and Train-ing – How do I keep track of sales and expenses?Loan Packaging – What documents do I need to get a loan? What are my options for obtaining capital? Help is available for any size loan, startup or expansion project.Real Estate Analysis – Should I rent or own my business space?Business Regulations – What licenses or permits do I need? How do I get them?Marketing Assistance – Who are my customers and how do I reach them?Strategic Planning – How do I evalu-ate and manage growth?Professional Referrals – How do I im-prove my credit score?Business advisors for the Open To Busi-ness program spend most of their time with startups. “We provide intensive one-on-one consulting,” notes MCCD business advisor Rob Smolund. Advi-sors spend lots of time with entrepre-neurs to help them determine if their business is feasible, if there is a market for their products, and if their business has the potential to make money. They also help them put together business strategies and a business plan. “We stick with an entrepreneur all the way through the process,” Smolund ex-plains. “We help people work through their vision, and provide an unbiased perspective based on a wealth of busi-

ness experience. “Some of our success stories are people who don’t go into business. Ultimately it’s up to a business person, however, if they decide to go forward or not.”Open To Business advisors can also work with existing small business own-ers to identify obstacles to growth and help them obtain the financing they need. MCCD has capital available to provide some loans. More often, they provide credit enhancement; partnering with a primary lender by contributing 20 to 40 percent of the loan total. “We have longstanding relationships with area banks and can help our business clients obtain loans and revolving lines of credit,” Smolund added.Open office hours for Open To Business will be held at New Hope City Hall, 4401 Xylon Ave. N., from 2 to 4 p.m., on the second Tuesday of even-numbered months beginning June 12. Open office hours at Golden Valley City Hall, 7800 Golden Valley Road, are scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m., on the second Friday of odd-numbered months beginning July 13. New Hope business people can at-tend office hours at either location. Ap-pointments for the open office hours are recommended, but not required. Busi-ness people can also arrange to meet with a business advisor anytime by call-ing Rob Smolund at 612-789-7337, ext. 11 or rsmolund@mccdmn.org.

privacy fence and trees along the south and west lot lines would provide further buffering. Utilizing space ef-ficiently, the developer has proposed to remove heavy snowfalls off-site, and provide underground parking, and un-derground storm water retention. The utility lines along 62nd Avenue would be buried as well.The developer intends to apply for a state tax credit to provide financing for the building. If funded, the tax credit re-quires continued maintenance and strict inspections of the property. Tenants will receive a full background check and be required to sign a strict lease agreement. The apartments will be leased to work-ing and middle class income-qualified tenants with annual incomes ranging from $30,000-$50,000, a requirement of the tax credit. With the benefit of tax credit financing, Ron Clark Construc-tion would be able to construct a high-quality building at rental rates that are affordable to young professionals, work-ing families, and seniors. Without the financing, the building would have rents nearly one-third higher. Indications are that the housing con-struction market in the Twin Cities is beginning to recover, but that recovery has been limited to rental housing. Va-

cancy rates in the metro are extremely low and demand appears to be grow-ing, especially for high-quality units inside the Interstate 494/694 loop, near transit and in walkable neighborhoods. Because significant segments of the population are still recovering from the recession or are changing their attitude towards home ownership, many people seem to be shying away from purchas-ing, especially townhomes and condo-minium units. For just these reasons, Ron Clark Construction is interested in the site at 62nd and West Broadway avenues. The site is about a half-mile from the park and ride facility and pro-posed Bottineau Transitway light rail station at 63rd Avenue. Redevelopment is a slow and expen-sive process. To make redevelopment financially feasible, it typically requires higher density, more expensive build-ings and/or public financing. A 68-unit building is proposed simply because of the economics of the site. A smaller building may not be feasible and con-struction of single family homes is unrealistic for the site and the market. City staff believes the site amenities and design are of high quality and the site should be able to accommodate the additional density while maintain-ing an appropriate buffer for adjoining properties.

Redevelopment Proposal (continued from page 4)

Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital recently

received the New Hope Outstanding Business Award for Winter 2012. The award recognizes local businesses for their contributions to the New Hope community.A quote by 15th century French physician Leon Bernard on a plaque at the entrance to the pet hos-pital's surgery room sums up Dr. Pierce Flemming's philosophy of business, "Medicine should be prac-ticed as a form of friend-ship." His top priority is providing compassionate, high quality veterinary care to his clients. He and his staff also strive to develop a relationship with his clients and their pets. "My staff is a family too," Flemming noted. "We have very little turnover of clients or staff." Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital was founded in 1969, just across Highway 169 in Plymouth. Dr. Flemming and a partner purchased the business in 1980. By 2004, the growing business had outgrown its facilities and needed a new home. In explaining why he moved his business to New Hope Dr. Flemming explained, "New Hope had open land that was close to our old lo-cation. And, the city has been support-ive from the start."Plymouth Heights offers a full compli-ment of veterinary care from dentistry and surgery, to alternative pet care, pain management and pet boarding. Its hospital diagnostic tools include digital x-ray capabilities, ultrasound, electro-cardiograph units, and the latest an-esthesia monitoring equipment. They also have a complete in-hospital phar-macy. "Technology has really changed things," Dr. Flemming noted. The pet hospital has a staff of five vet-erinarians, 10 certified veterinary tech-nicians, and four office staff. Some of the more unusual services they provide are an option for at home pet care and certified pet acupuncture and animal chiropractic. "Those alternative forms of care are primarly for pain manage-ment," Flemming explained. "But, they can also help a pet with allergies, anxi-ety, and appetite stimulation." There are other things about Plymouth Height's treatment philosphy that Dr. Flemming clearly takes pride in. "We teach our clients how to take good care of their pet, including nutrition, weight and lifestyle. We use vaccines conservatively. And we have been an American Animal Hospital Associa-tion (AAHA) accredited hospital since 1998." AAHA conducts an extensive inspection of Plymouth Height's record keeping, knowledge, equipment and fa-cilities every three years. "They hold us to the highest standard."

Plymouth Heights pet boarding facility offers dog and cat daycare and board-ing. The facility has both classic and luxury suites and provides both indoor and outdoor playtime.In presenting the Outstanding Busi-ness Award, several council members cited Plymouth Height's commitment to compassionate veterinary service. Speaking from personal experience councilmember Eric Lammle noted, "They really are a class act." And coun-cilmember Elder added, "They go above and beyond what you would expect a business like this to do."

Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital honored

(continued on page 8)

Business advisor Rob Smolund

The City Council recognized Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital and its staff for its compassionate veterinary service.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Spring 2012

compressor and refrigeration equipment, the dehumidifica-tion equipment, and the sand floor and refrigerant pipes for the north rink. To achieve sig-nificant energy savings, McK-instry recommended that the city install one state-of-the-art, energy-efficient, ammonia-based refrigeration system and dehu-midification system to cool both the north and south rinks. McKinstry also suggested mak-ing other energy saving im-provements at the ice arena. The interior and exterior lighting has been upgraded to LED fixtures. Water conservation and vending ma-chine energy conservation equipment has been installed. And the “building envelope” has been sealed up. When the arena was constructed, it was stan-dard practice to leave an air space at the top of walls to avoid condensation buildup. With modern arena equip-ment, that is no longer necessary.All of these energy efficiency improve-ments will pay for themselves through energy savings in 5 to 20 years. In fact, McKinstry is so confident this is the case, that they have guaranteed the city’s energy savings. In all, the energy efficiency improvements will save the city about $58,000 in utility costs and $110,000 in operating and maintenance costs each year.The types of improvements being made at the ice arena make this a very “green”project, which will greatly re-duce New Hope’s carbon footprint. After the energy efficiency improve-ments are completed at the ice arena, the arena will reduce electricity usage by 737,000 kWh and natural gas usage by 8,270 Therms each year. To put that into perspective, that annual emission reduction is equivalent to:v emitting nearly 1.4 million pounds less carbon monoxide into the atmospherev saving the average amount of elec-tricity used by 82 homesv reducing emissions an average car would emit if it travelled 2.3 million milesv equating to nearly 656,000 pounds of coal not being burned

Building MaintenanceIn addition to infrastructure improve-ments, the project also addresses a number of building maintenance is-sues. The aging roof for the north rink, which had begun to leak, was replaced with a new metal roof. Deteriorating stairs and some crumbling concrete blocks on the exterior east wall of the building will be replaced. And, the exterior of the building will get a fresh coat of paint.

Enhancements to Public SpacesIn April, the City Council approved a $566,000 project to update the arena’s public spaces, which haven’t been sig-nificantly improved since the 1970s. The Council believes that having inviting and updated public spaces is an impor-tant part of making the arena a viable community asset for years to come.

The aesthetic improvements at the ice arena will include:v A new arched vestibule, or entry, that will extend out from the existing entrance about 10 feet. v The lobby will get a facelift – with new tile floors that extend down the hallways, refinished ceiling, painted walls, and updated lighting. v The offices and conference room will also be redone from top to bottom – including installation of a lower, ADA compliant section for the front counter. v The ventilation and counters for the concession stand will be brought up to current code requirements. v The community room upstairs will have its walls, ceiling and lights redone, the heavily-used kitchen will be replaced, and a unisex restroom will be installed. v And, the windows overlooking the north sheet of ice from the community room and north hallway will also be replaced.

FinancingBecause the infra-structure improve-ment at the New Hope

Ice Arena will result in substantial en-ergy savings for the city, New Hope was authorized by the Minnesota Office of Management and Budget to issue $3.5 million in Qualified Energy Conserva-tion Bonds to pay for a significant por-tion of the project’s costs. The bonds have an interest rate of slightly under one percent. The bonds will be repaid over the next 17 years, with guaranteed energy savings that will result from the energy conservation improvements.The city also received a generous, $275,000 Youth Sports Grant from Hennepin County to help pay for some of the energy efficiency improvements at the arena.The remainder of the project costs will be covered by the city’s Park Infrastruc-ture Fund and arena operations revenue.

A New Ice AgeAll of the improvements herald a New Ice Age at the New Hope Ice Arena, an ice age that is sure to keep countless hockey players, ice skaters, and others content for many years to come. Every-one is invited to the celebration that will launch the New Ice Age. The ribbon cutting celebration is tenta-tively scheduled for Thursday, August 9. Watch the city website, the local paper or call the Recreation office at 763-531-5151 in July for more information about that event.

City offers several eServices for access to city services online

You can now manage and pay your New Hope utility bill online with

eUtilityBilling. Utility customers can pay their bill online with a credit card 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can also create an online account to re-ceive their monthly utility bill by email instead of receiving a paper copy in the mail. For more information about eU-tilityBilling, visit the city of New Hope’s website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us and click the button on the left side of the homepage under “Quick Links,” or call the utility billing clerk at 763-592-6760.A couple other eServices available from the homepage of the website include RecExpress and ePermits. RecExpress makes it possible for In-ternet users to sign up for New Hope Parks and Recreation Department pro-grams any time of day, any day of the week. Users will need to obtain a Login ID Number and Account Password

from the Recreation office by calling 763-531-5151. With those in hand, sim-ply follow the link under “Quick Links,” drop the programs you want into “My Basket,” and complete the transaction with a major credit card.With ePermits, homeowners and con-tractors can obtain a variety of residen-tial building, plumbing and mechanical permits online. Permits that can be obtained through the ePermit website include fence, window and door re-placement, re-roof, siding/soffit/fascia, furnace, air conditioning, gas fireplace, draintile, water heater, and point of sale. Homeowners can obtain a permit from the ePermit website by following the link under “Quick Links” on the city’s home page and clicking the blue “Owner Tab” on the top right. There is a $3.50 fee per transaction. Transac-tions are kept secure with VeriSign.

New Hope performs crack repair and seal coating maintenance

regularly based upon detailed pavement analysis done as part of the city’s Pave-ment Management Plan. Those main-tenance activities are an economical way for the city to maximize the life of pavement on the city’s streets. The City Council recently approved a $198,000 bid from a contractor to do crack repair and seal coat maintenance on several streets in southwestern New Hope.Crack repair involves sealing gaps in the pavement with flexible rubberized asphalt that bonds to crack walls and moves with the pavement as it expands and contracts to prevent water from intruding beneath the surface. Xylon, Yukon, and Aquila avenues as well as 33rd Circle and 33rd Place N. between 33rd and 36th avenues will have crack repair work completed this summer.Seal coating involves the application of a thin layer of liquid asphalt on the pave-ment surface immediately followed by a layer of crushed stone. All of the streets between Boone Ave. N. and Hwy. 169 and between Medicine Lake Road and 36th Ave. N., except for portions of Hillsboro, Independence, Gettysburg, and 35th avenues and Hillsboro Court that were reconstructed in 2004 will be seal coated this year.

2012 crack repair and seal coating project

Recycle yard waste for free in Maple Grove

Ice Arena Renovation (continued from page 1)

Building maintenance improvements at the arena included exterior painting.

About 30 guests and officials marked the start of the ice arena renovation project with a groundbreaking event on April 11.

The Maple Grove yard waste site is open from April 1 through No-

vember 30 each year. Use of the facility is free for residents of New Hope.The site accepts:• Grass clippings • Garden Materials• Leaves • Brush• Branches up to 10 inches in diameter• Small quantities of sod, gravel or soilAll of the materials are recycled at the site. Users who bring yard waste in bags must empty them and remove the bags. Yard waste site hours are Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday noon to 7 p.m. The site is closed on May 28, July 4, September 3, and No-vember 22. Residents must show proof of residency in order to use the site.The Maple Grove facility is located at 14796 101st Avenue North. For more information, call 763-420-5886 for a recorded message or visit www.mg-yardwaste.com

2011 Annual ReportNew Hope's 2011 Annual Report is online! The report has lots of infor-mation about programs, services and activities the city engaged in during 2011 and highlights some of the major projects planned for this year. There are also lots of photos and financial information. Follow the link on the homepage of the city's website to download the report with Adobe Acrobat Reader. As a cost saving measure, the re-port will not be mailed this year.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Spring 2012

Do you have a neighbor who takes special pride in their landscaping,

has a beautiful garden, or recently com-pleted a noteworthy home improve-ment project? Why not nominate them for a New Hope RAVE! Award. The deadline for New Hope’s annual resi-dential property recognition program is August 1.Any residential property in New Hope is eligible to be nominated for a RAVE! Award, including both single-family and multi-family homes and both own-er-occupied and rental properties. Any New Hope resident or business person can make as many nominations as they like. In fact, if you’re really pleased with how a recent project turned out at your home, feel free to nominate yourself!While gardens and landscaping are easily the most popular categories, the RAVE! Awards also include categories for remodeling or renovation projects, additions, general property mainte-nance, and environmentally sensitive improvements (including a rain garden or a project that uses “green” building materials).And, projects don’t have to be big and flashy to receive a RAVE! Award. Last year a vegetable garden was honored and a few years ago a well done egress window won an award. If you rent an apartment or townhome, you can nominate your landlord for a recent

Nominate a neighbor for a New Hope RAVE! Award

improvement that they made or the property mainte-nance that they do. A panel of volunteer judges will screen all of the entries and tour and evalu-ate the top entries before they make award recommen-dations to the City Council. Judging will occur in mid-August. The Council makes the final de-

cisions on award winners and recog-nizes them at a City Council meeting. Award winners also have their names inscribed on a permanent plaque at City Hall, receive a personalized garden stone or plaque, and are highlighted in the In Touch newsletter.To nominate someone for a RAVE! Award, download a nomination form on the city’s website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/rave. For more information or to volunteer to be a RAVE! Award judge, call the New Hope Community Devel-opment Department at 763-531-5196. Remember, the deadline for nomina-tions is August 1.

Twenty-two resi-dents of New

Hope and Crystal completed the weekend-long basic training course for the newly formed West Metro CERT on March 11. CERT stands for Community Emer-gency Response Team. The CERT concept began in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s as a way to organize and train citizens in basic emergency re-sponse skills. Team members are pre-pared to provide immediate life saving and life sustaining help to their fami-lies and neighborhoods in disaster situ-ations, when first responder resources are stretched to the limit and often not immediately available. West Metro CERT is one of more than 30 CERT teams that have been formed through-out Minnesota in recent years.Each CERT participant completed an extensive independent study course online, which introduced the basic concepts of CERT, before attending the 20-hour in-person training course. The three-day training session focused

West Metro CERT completes first basic training session

on disaster preparedness, incident command structure, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, fire safety, and disaster psychology. The training was led by Tom Mahan, CERT coordinator and animal control officer for the New Hope and Crystal police departments, and Kath Ham-merseng, West Metro Fire-Rescue firefighter. The weekend concluded with a realistic disaster scenario – a “tornado” at West Metro Fire Station 1 with more than a dozen “victims” suffering from a wide range of injuries – which enabled team members to put their new skills to the test. At the conclusion of the training, the

new West Metro CERT team mem-bers received identification and a backpack filled with safety equip-ment. The group will hold training sessions every few months to ex-pand and sharpen their skills. West Metro CERT plans to offer another basic training course in fall 2012. Interested New Hope or Crystal residents may register for that ses-sion at any time by completing an application. For an application or more information about West Metro CERT visit www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/CERT or contact Tom Mahan at 763-531-5161.

appraised values. Last fall, Gator se-cured the right to purchase the Wells Fargo Bank property at 4200 Xylon Ave. N. In mid-March 2012, Gator fi-nalized a purchase agreement with the city for 4300 Kmart and agreed to in-clude the Wells Fargo property in that purchase agreement.New Hope agreed to provide $225,000 in refundable earnest money and made arrangements to inspect the property in April. The city’s building official did not identify any significant issues with the property. Kmart closed its doors in March and vacated the property in late April. An auto repair business that has been sub-leasing space in the building

Photo contest winners will be recognized at a City Council meeting and have their photo published in the In Touch news-letter and put on display in the In Focus photo gallery at New Hope City Hall.A complete list of contest rules is avail-able on the In Focus entry form. Some of the most important things to re-member include:v You do need to live or work in New Hope to submit an entry, but you don’t need to be a serious photographer or have a fancy camera to participate. Many past winners used a basic point-and-shoot camera. Today’s inexpensive digital cameras are capable of making really good photographs if the subject is interesting, the lighting is good, and the timing is right.v Submitted photographs must be taken somewhere in New Hope and

is scheduled to vacate the property be-fore the scheduled closing in July.Assuming the closing is completed as scheduled, the city plans to demolish the structures at 4200 and 4300 Xylon sometime late this summer or fall. At least a portion of the parking lot on the site will be retained so that the New Hope Community Farmers Market can continue to operate at that location for the foreseeable future. The city will be working with the consulting firm Ehlers and Associates to help identify a viable development partner for the former Kmart site and begin working through the initial steps of the redevel-opment process.

must be the work of the person submit-ting it.v Each photographer may submit up to two 5x7 prints on photo paper. Professionally printed photos tend to work best. Please note that, to avoid overwhelming our volunteer judges, the number of entries that may be submit-ted by each participant has been de-creased from three to two. Entry forms for the 2012 New Hope In Focus photo contest are available online at the city’s website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us. Paper entry forms are available at City Hall and the other venues listed above that will host the In Focus travelling display in August and September, or by calling 763-531-5103. The deadline for entries is 4:30 p.m. on Monday, August 13. Entries may be dropped off in-person at City Hall or mailed to: New Hope In Focus Photo Contest, 4401 Xylon Ave. N., New Hope, MN, 55428.

In Focus Photo Contest (continued from page 2)

Kmart (continued from page 1)

The Harmas received a RAVE! Award in 2011 for the beautiful job they did on a recent exterior remodeling project.

Watch Channel 16Customers of Comcast’s cable tele-vision service can now watch New Hope City Council meetings, other city-related videos and text infor-mation about city of New Hope programs, services and events on New Hope’s government access Ch. 16.The new Tightrope playback sys-tem replays the most recent City Council meeting every day at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Shorter videos and text information are replayed on a loop which is updated regularly.

The 22 residents who completed the first basic training course in March will form the foundation of the West Metro CERT Team.

A mock disaster drill gave CERT members an ex-cellent opportunity to put the skills they learned during their classroom training into practice.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Spring 2012

Redevelopment Proposal (continued from page 5)

Pam Sylvester, administrative spe-cialist for the Community Devel-

opment Department was named New Hope Employee of the Quarter for the fourth quarter of 2011 and Tom Mahan, animal control officer for the Police Department was named Em-ployee of the Quarter for the first quar-ter of 2012.

Sylvester and Mahan named Employees of the Quarter

Pam Sylvester was recognized for taking on additional responsibilities previously performed by the Finance Department. Over the past few years, when a couple of Finance staff mem-bers retired or took other jobs, the city looked for opportunities to streamline and reorganize the finance operation in order to cut costs. One of the ways this was accomplished was to ask employ-ees in other departments to cross train and learn some of the tasks that were previously performed by the Finance Department. In addition to performing her regular responsibilities, Sylvester has taken on responsibility for process-ing expense reimbursements for city staff, doing data entry for accounts pay-able, and processing city checks.Sylvester has worked for the city of New Hope since 1994. Her regular re-sponsibilities keep her pretty busy. She provides secretarial support for the entire Community Development De-partment and the New Hope Planning Commission. She also schedules ap-pointments for the city inspectors and building official, and helps with cus-tomers at the front counter. Sylvester is also responsible for all of the records management involved in the rental registration program for single and multi-family homes, and is involved in a divergent group of projects from the biannual employee blood drive, the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast and the Northwest Suburban Remodeling Fair.”Pam has been able to complete the various new assignments as well as maintaining efficiency within the Com-munity Development Department,” ex-plained her nominator. “She maintains an extremely high level of professional-ism as well as courteously dealing with the public. She always has a friendly smile for whoever is talking to her.” Tom Mahan was recognized for get-ting the West Metro Community Emergency Response Team (or CERT) off the ground and coordinating the first training session with West Metro Fire-Rescue personnel. CERT is a pro-gram to organize and train citizens in

Pam Sylvester

basic emergency response skills (for more information about West Metro CERT see the article on page 7.) In late 2010, the cities of New Hope and Crystal received a $16,000 grant from the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management to establish a Community Emergency Response Team. As an employee shared by the two cities, Mahan was chosen to co-ordinate the team and the training for team members. The first intensive, three-day West Metro CERT training session was held in March 2012. In preparation for the training Mahan received extensive training to be a CERT trainer, gathered training materials from other CERT teams, developed a variety of teaching options and training materials, and planned logistical arrangements for the training and a mock disaster scenario. Mahan and West Metro firefighter Kath Hammerseng were the primary instructors for the 20 hours of class-room training. Following the initial training session he evaluated the train-ing for potential improvements and will be responsible for coordinating several meetings a year for team members to continue their training and provide networking opportunities.“The residents from New Hope and Crystal who participated in the CERT training spoke very positively about the quality of the training they received and how well organized it was,” noted Mahan’s nominator. “By doing such a good job, Tom brought esteem to city staff and West Metro Fire.” The nomi-nator concluded, “Tom deserves to be honored because he does his job quietly – not seeking recognition, and he never complains.”Mahan has served the cities of New Hope and Crystal as a full-time ani-mal control officer for more than 14 years. He is a civilian member of the New Hope Police Department. His primary responsibilities are to respond to animal-related calls and enforce city animal ordinances.Recipients of New Hope Employee of the Quarter recognition are nominated by coworkers and selected by a com-mittee with representatives from each city department. Congratulations to Pam Sylvester and Tom Mahan on being selected for the award.

Tom Mahan

Approval ProcessThe approval process for the proposed Ron Clark Construction project will take place in two stages. First, the city will consider amend-ments to the New Hope Comprehensive Plan and zoning map. The sites, which are currently identified as medium density housing and commercial in the Comprehensive Plan, would need to be changed to high density housing. In addition, the zoning must be changed from R3 (Medium Density Residential) and CB (Community Business) to PUD (Planned Unit Development). A PUD is a negotiated zoning district which provides flexibility to the city and de-veloper. City staff believes the project will help to revitalize the blighted and

vacant sites, increase the tax base, and provide new, high-quality apartments in the city, and is therefore recommend-ing approval of the changes. The proposal at this stage is in draft form. Later, Ron Clark Construction will need to bring more detailed plans forward to apply for subdivision, plat-ting and site plan review which will likely take place later in 2012 or early 2013. To date, a neighborhood open house was held in April and a public hearing was held by the Planning Commission in May to review the redevelopment proposal. The City Council and city staff welcome continued input on the proposal. For additional and updated information visit www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/redevelopbroadway or call the Community Development Department at 763-531-5119.

But City Day isn’t just talk, there are also lots of fun displays for the whole family, including:v Dump truck and front-end loader

from Public Worksv Squad car, DARE car and SWAT van

from Policev Engine, ladder truck, and rescue ve-

hicle from Firev Television production truck from

Cable 12v Bounce castle sponsored by New

Hope Business Networking Groupv Fire safety housev Bean Counter display where you

choose how you would fund city services

And, several scheduled activities, including:

New Hope City Day (continued from page 1)

guaranteed to get the tree species they request. Boulevard tree planting is scheduled to occur later this fall. Call the city forester at 763-592-6763 to ar-range for removal of a boulevard ash. The Minnesota Department of Agricul-ture (MDA) will once again hang about 6,500 triangular purple traps across the state to monitor the spread of the Emer-ald Ash Borer beetle. Results of the survey will help the MDA determine if further action is needed to slow the spread of EAB. Residents are also encouraged to watch for signs of

v New Hope Tumblers competitive gymnastics team from 9 to 9:45 a.m.

v Dance program sampler at 10 and 11 a.m.

v Police K-9 demonstration at 10:30 a.m.

v Off Broadway Musical Theatre’s “Footloose” highlights at 11:30 a.m.

v Police Department tours at 10 and 11 a.m.

The New Hope Community Farmers Market will be open across the street with a selection of farm-fresh vegeta-bles, fruits, crafts, prepared foods, and other great items.Weather permitting, most City Day ac-tivities will be outside in front of New Hope City Hall, 4401 Xylon Ave. N. and at the New Hope Outdoor Theatre, which is just west of City Hall. Don’t miss the fun! For more information, visit New Hope’s website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us.

EAB on their ash trees. Potential signs of EAB include woodpecker damage, especially at the top of a tree; bark cracks or splits; S-shaped tracks under the bark; and, die-back of leaves in the upper one-third of a tree’s branches.To view several informative presenta-tions about Emerald Ash Borer and EAB planning from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, visit www.vimeo.com and search for “EAB MDA”.

Emerald Ash Borer Program (continued from page 2)

Preliminary site plan for proposed 68-unit apartment building at 62nd and West Broadway.