Lindell Public Comment
On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 4:47 PM k.cammilleri <k.cammilleri@ci.scandia.mn.us> wrote:
Mr. Lindel,
Thank you for sharing your comments. I will share your comments directly with the City Council.
I understand you felt the newsletter did not provide adequate information on tax assessments. The
point of that article was to let property owners know what processes they could take to challenge their
assessment if they did not agree with it. How would you recommend we approach that
differently? Providing any data more detailed than what was mentioned in the article would be
unrealistic due to the variation between assessments and different reasons assessments were proposed
to be adjusted.
With regard to Internet Action, I agree in hindsight, the article could have included better detail on the
nature of the project. Also, I acknowledge that there is certainly a policy question as to whether or not
the City should be getting financially involved in expanding internet services to the community, and I
recognize your concerns regarding it. To help clarify what you might have felt was missing regarding the
internet expansion project, I will provide you with information regarding this year’s project and the one
proposed for next year.
All 5 Council members, including the Mayor, unanimously voted in favor of funding this year’s internet
expansion project. The project was developed in cooperation of the Internet Action Committee, Midco,
and the State of Minnesota. This committee is made up of 5 citizens and has two City Council non-
voting advisory members, Steve Kronmiller and Patti Ray. The City’s cost for this 2020 expansion project
is $160,000. The project helped cover the costs of laying 92,807’ (17.5 miles) of cable and is expected
to provide service to 240 households (approximately 500 residents) with access to high speed Internet
with 1 Gig Down and 20 Mb Up for households that were either underserved or not served at all. The
majority of the project’s funding came from a combination of funds from the State of Minnesota and
Midco. The successful grant award by the state has been largely attributed to the fact that the City’s
participated in funding the project and the very high connection costs.
Regarding how much this will cost individual taxpayers, … the money to fund this project came form
existing fund reserves, but these funds have come from historical tax levies. To put this in perspective,
the City levied $2,384,276 in 2020. $160,000 would account for only about 6.7% of that overall levy. To
add additional context, the proposed budget for 2021 includes an estimated tax rate increase of only
0.17% over last year, so the City’s participation has a relatively low impact on the community’s tax rate.
A proposal is on the table to provide $165,000 of funding to carryout expansion in 2021. This would be
contingent on receiving funding from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic
Development’s Broadband Expansion Grant. This is project to serve approximately 95 households. The
lower number of households in this round is related to the higher per household connection cost of
$4,200 and the proximity of houses in the expansion area. I have attached a map of the area proposed
for 2021.
Here is a link to the updates coming out of the Internet Action Committee’s work:
https://www.ci.scandia.mn.us/index.asp?SEC=3556CB55-A912-4AEA-9007-
BF540522144C&Type=B_BASIC
I will let the internet action committee know about your concerns about their updates.
If you feel that there is some sort of negative information the City is overlooking, please let me
know. Our objective is to provide the community with helpful information about City operations,
programs, volunteer opportunities, engagement opportunities, and the regulatory expectations on
members of the community. This document is not intended to be platform to arguing for or against
policies, as we strive to have a neutral tone.
Sincerely,
Ken Cammilleri, Administrator
City of Scandia, Minnesota
From: jon lindel
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2020 3:36:47 PM
To: b.eklund <b.eklund@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Cc: k.cammilleri <k.cammilleri@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Subject: Re: FW: questions
Here is my comment for the Coincil meeting.
My name is John Lindell and my address is 11240 218th Street.
My comments are directed at the Scandia newsletter which doesn't provide useful information for
Scandia residents.
Specifically, the April 2020 newsletter doesn't provide useful information regarding tax assessments
under the 2020
budget to residents. Further the newspaper provided a worthless Progress Report by the Internet
Committee. No mention of
how many residents will benefit from the Kronmiller boondoggle and how much it will cost in total and
for each resident whether
or not they can or will choose the internet service from Midco.
The Scandia newsletter should include all related cost information. The April newsletter was a prime
opportunity to provide
relevant, useful information but it didn't. A good model for the Scandia newsletter is the Washington
County communication.
That communication doesn't try to put a happy face on everything the County is doing.
Everything Scandia government does is not a happy meal. A useful newsletter that follows the example
of Washington County
reporting would go far to improve Scandia's newsletter.
Thank you for the opportunity to be heard.
On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 1:00 PM b.eklund <b.eklund@ci.scandia.mn.us> wrote:
Ken,
Please see Mr. Lindel’s question #1 below on setting a tax levy limit - I will ask for you to respond to
that.
#2) Please send your written comments to both Ken and myself. I am going to be out for the rest of this
afternoon, but we will make sure that your comments are added to the City Council meeting packet and
distributed to the City Council.
Thanks,
Brenda
From: jon lindel
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2020 11:57 AM
To: b.eklund <b.eklund@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Subject: questions
High Brenda, A few questions.
1) Is Scandia's tax levy limited by state law? It used to be but not
sure if it still is. If so what is the limit?
2) Can I send you comments to be read during the public forum at the
Council meeting tomorrow? I plan to send that to you later today.