9.f Administrators report
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: August 16, 2016
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, Administrator
Re: Administrator’s report
Preliminary 2017 Assessments – The preliminary report on assessed values from the County show
Scandia values up 2.1% in total with a new construction value of $7,536,200. Countywide the value
increase averaged 5.5%
Forest Lake Holdco – Xcel has completed the work to bring the interconnection line from the South
side of Hwy 97 over to our interconnection point at the solar facility. Xcel will be starting some
testing in the next 30 days, if those test go well, it is estimated that the facility would be on the grid in
the next 60 – 90 days.
Frontier upgrades - Bob Trobley from Frontier Communications reported that the engineering and
design work for the 433 exchange (Frontier customers) is being completed and the work to upgrade
will begin this year.
Comprehensive Planning – The 1st meeting of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee is
scheduled for Thursday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. This meeting will be a “Visioning Workshop” to
determine a direction for the Comprehensive Planning effort where the Committee will review the
comprehensive planning process, updated maps, data, and projections. The Steering Committee will
also complete a SWOT analysis exercise to identify community strengths, weaknesses and
opportunities. Bolton Menk will be distributing information to the Committee members in advance
of the meeting.
The service contract for the Active Living and Healthy Food strategies for city comprehensive plans
that are covered under the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) grant for Washington
County by the Minnesota Department of Health has been sent to the County for execution. The grant
will cover portions of the cost for community engagement (focus groups, pop-up meetings, steering
committee, and online survey), an assessment of active living opportunities (existing parks and rec
facilities and potential future facilities), a healthy foods assessment (inventory food production and
access to the community), and the identification of goals and policies to promote healthy food
production, local food access, and access to active living opportunities.
The Metropolitan Council has sent out a draft of the 2016 Generalize Land Use data for review and
verification by February 24. The land use map has been returned with any necessary corrections.
Veterans Memorial – Dan Wilson provided the following updated timeline for the construction of the
Memorial at Lilleskogen Park:
Feb - Complete agreement with contractors on wall construction.
April - Review and make final arrangements for construction to begin in May if weather
permits. Landscaping reviewed.
May - Begin construction. Hope to have concrete and honor walls completed by the end of
May. (Memorial Day)
June, July - Landscaping work. Granite monuments should be in sometime during this
period. They come from overseas (India).
Sept- Fund raiser benefit with Meisters.
Tax Forfeited Land – We were contacted by the County regarding potential objections to the sale of a
parcel of tax forfeited land to the Veterans Campground on Big Marine Lake before presenting the
sale to the County Board. Since the parcel is landlocked and adjacent to both Washington County
and Veterans Campground I could not see a basis for the City to object.
Log House Landing Boat ramp – The documentation for the National Park Service participation in the
project is in place based on the submitted design. Changes may necessitate revisions to the
agreement.
Meadowbrook Road width – Following up on an issue raised during the public hearing for the Gacek
special event facility, a resident is questioning the minimum standards for city streets and the
applicability to Meadowbrook Ave., which has a paved width of 18’. In Scandia there are 18 streets
total roughly 4.3 miles in length that are paved to this width. Ryan Goodman will address the issue at
a future work session.
MnDOT State Landscape Partnership Program – Following up on the discussion at the January
Council meeting, a request for design assistance has been sent to MnDOT. It is anticipated that the
work on the design will be a 2017 project and completed in 2018 subject to funding and resources.
Council action will be required to move the project from the design to the implementation phase.
Scandia sign on Federated Co-ops lot – The Scandia welcome sign is located on the parcel of land
between the Fire / Public Works building and the gas station / conve nience store. That parcel was
purchased by Federated Coops. I cannot locate any agreement that provides for the sign to be in that
location and consideration should be given to relocating the sign to a more prominent location for
welcoming travelers into the City.
Building Inspection revenues and costs – At the last Council meeting the question of the net income
from building inspection fee was raised. The numbers of Chuck’s report s reflect the monthly building
permits and the cost for inspection. From an accounting perspective, the following shows the
revenue and expenditures related to building permit fees and inspection costs over the past few
years.
Liability and Property Insurance – The City has been invoiced for the 2017 coverages with a total
premium of $29,087. This is less than the $33,000 which was included in the 2017 budget.
2016 Audit – The auditors are scheduled to be here March 6 and 7 to complete the fieldwork on the
audit of the 2016 Financial statements.